Location and search based information in cars

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program, of providing a virtual travel companion for a motor vehicle comprising the steps of obtaining information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling by a location information module and recognising at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling by a processing unit. The method further comprises the processing unit transmitting a recommendation content comprising the point of interest(s) recognised within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling to an in-vehicle display apparatus and displaying the recommendation content identifying the point of interest(s) within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling by the in-vehicle display apparatus. A user preference profile may be used to produce the recommendation content in accordance with a user’s preferences. Points of interest may be a tourist attraction, a retail establishment or a food and beverage establishment. The content may include an advert. The method may be carried out by an artificial neural network. The location information module may receive image data captured by a vision system or information from a maps Application Programming Interface (API).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD This disclosure relates to a method of and system for displaying content informing a user of places of interest within a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling. BACKGROUND During road trips, motor vehicle windows allow passengers a simple form of entertainment to view outside the motor vehicle. An alternative source of entertainment during road trips may be vehicle infotainment system. However, while loud music may be enjoyable for passengers, it may pose a danger to a driver who needs to focus on the road. On a same note, passengers such as children and teenagers are usually restless and will turn to smart phones for entertainment. Further, when navigating a new, unfamiliar place, a driver usually rely on global positioning systems (GPS) for navigation. However, a conventional GPS device will not provide travel recommendations to the driver. More often than not, itinerary of road trips are planned in advance. However, such pre-planning does not take into account of traffic conditions or estimated arrival time, which may be inflexible and causes inconvenience to travelers who prefer to explore new locations on impromptu basis during road trips. The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure. SUMMARY A purpose of this disclosure is to ameliorate the problem of navigating a new, unfamiliar vicinity while driving, by providing the subject-matter of the independent claims. Further purposes of this disclosure are set out in the accompanying dependent claims. The objective of this disclosure is solved by a method of providing a virtual travel companion for a motor vehicle, the method comprising: obtaining, by way of a location information module, an information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling; and recognising, by way of a processing unit, at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling, characterized by that: the method further comprises: transmitting, by way of the processing unit, a recommendation content comprising the at least one point of interest recognised within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling to an in-vehicle display apparatus; and displaying, by way of the in-vehicle display apparatus, a recommendation content identifying the at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling. An advantage of the above described aspect of this disclosure yields a virtual travel companion for a motor vehicle, which displays a recommendation content identifying one or more points of interest within a vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling on an in-vehicle display apparatus. The virtual travel companion provides a solution to vehicle operators and passengers on a road trip to visit places of interest or tourist attraction locations on a road trip. Preferred is a method as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which the method further comprises: retrieving, by way of the processing unit, a user’s preference profile; and identifying, by way of the processing unit, the at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling for producing the recommendation content in accordance with a user’s preference profile. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is to yield a method of identifying one or more points of interest within the vicinity based upon a user’s preference profile, to produce a user-centric recommendation content. Preferred is a method as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which: the at least one point of interest comprises: a tourist attraction site; a food and beverage establishment; a retail establishment or combination thereof. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is for the processing unit to identify at least one point of interest within the vicinity to include in the recommendation content to be displayed on the in-vehicle display. Preferred is a method as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which: the tourist attraction site is selected from a group consisting of: natural and cultural sites; historical places; monuments; zoos and game reserves; aquaria; museums and art galleries; gardens; national parks; architectural structures; themeparks; festivals and events, and combination thereof. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is for the processing unit to identify at least one tourist attraction within the vicinity to include in the recommendation content to be displayed on the in-vehicle display. Preferred is a method as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which: the method further comprises: in response to displaying the recommendation content on the in-vehicle display apparatus, alerting a user, by way of a natural language voice assistant executable by the processing unit. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is to display the recommendation content with at least one point of interest recognised on the in-vehicle display and concurrently alerting a user, through a natural language voice assistant informing the same recommendation content. Preferred is a method as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which: the method further comprises: in response to displaying the recommendation content on the in-vehicle display apparatus, executing, by way of the processing unit, a visual notification on the recommendation content being displayed. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is to display the recommendation content with at least one point of interest recognised on the in-vehicle display and concurrently alerting a user, through visual effects, for example an icon pointing to the at least one point of interest recognised in the recommendation content or a boarder surrounding the at least one point of interest recognised in the recommendation content. Preferred is a method as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which: the recommendation content further comprises an advertisement relative to the at least one point of interest recognised. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is to provide push marketing content with respect to the at least one point of interest recognised. Consequently, users may benefit from promotion by merchants. Preferred is a method as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which: the method comprising the steps as defined above are executable by an artificial neural network. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is to yield a method of making a recommendation content specific to user’s preference using artificial neural network, for data extraction to include in the recommendation content. The objective of this disclosure is solved by a virtual travel companion system for a motor vehicle, the system comprising: a processing unit; and a location information module operable to obtain information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling, wherein the processing unit is operable to identify at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling; characterized in that: the processing unit is further operable to: transmit a recommendation content comprising the at least one point of interest recognised within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling to an in-vehicle display apparatus; and display a recommendation content on the in-vehicle display, to identify the at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling. An advantage of the above described aspect of this disclosure yields a virtual travel companion system for a motor vehicle, which displays a recommendation content identifying one or more points of interest within a vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling on an in-vehicle display apparatus. The virtual travel companion provides a solution to vehicle operators and passengers on a road trip to visit places of interest or tourist attraction locations on a road trip. Preferred is a system as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which: the location information module is operable to determine information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling using image data from images captured by a vision system of the motor vehicle; maps application programming interface (API), or combination thereof. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is to utilise image data from images captured by a vision system of a motor vehicle, and / or maps API to identify information related to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling, to recognise potential landmarks or tourist attraction spots. Preferred is a system as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which: the processing unit comprises an artificial neural network. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is to utilise artificial neural network to extract data, to predict a recommendation content according to user’s preference. Preferred is a system as described above or as described above as being preferred, in which: the processing unit is an artificial intelligence (Al) processing unit. The advantage of the above aspect of this disclosure is to utilise artificial intelligence processing unknit to execute machine learning algorithms operable on predictive models such as artificial neural networks. The objective of this disclosure is solved by a computer program product comprising instructions to cause the system as disclosed above to execute the steps of the method disclosed above. An advantage of the above described aspect of this disclosure yields a computer program for a virtual travel companion for a motor vehicle, which displays a recommendation content identifying one or more points of interest within a vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling on an in-vehicle display apparatus. The virtual travel companion provides a solution to vehicle operators and passengers on a road trip to visit places of interest or tourist attraction locations on a road trip. The objective of this disclosure is solved by a computer-readable medium having stored on the computer program as disclosed herein. An advantage of the above-described aspect of this disclosure yields a computer-readable medium for executing the computer program as disclosed. Other objects, features and characteristics, as well as the methods of operation and the functions of the related elements of the structure, the combination of parts and economics of manufacture will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the non-limiting embodiments of the disclosure, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Other objects and aspects of this disclosure will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference. FIG. 1 shows a flowchart for a method of a virtual travel companion in accordance with a preferred embodiment. FIG. 2 shows a system block diagram of a virtual travel companion in accordance with a preferred embodiment. In various embodiments described by reference to the above figures, like reference signs refer to like components in several perspective views and / or configurations. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Hereinafter, the term “processing unit” may also refer to a “computer”, which may be implemented by one or more processing elements for example an array of logic gates, a controller and an arithmetic logic unit, a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller, a field-programmable gate array, a programmable logic array, a microprocessor, or any other device or combination of devices that is configured to respond to and execute instructions in a defined manner to achieve a desired result. In one example, a processor or computer includes, or is connected to, one or more memories storing instructions or software that are executed by the processor or computer. Hardware components implemented by a processor or computer may execute instructions or software, such as an operating system (OS) and one or more software applications that run on the OS, to perform the operations described in the context herein. The hardware components may also access, manipulate, process, create, and store data in response to execution of the instructions or software. For simplicity, the singular term “processor” or “computer” may be used in the description of the examples described in this disclosure, but in other examples multiple processors or computers may be used, or a processor or computer may include multiple processing elements, or multiple types of processing elements, or both. For example, a single hardware component or two or more hardware components may be implemented by a single processor, or two or more processors, or a processor and a controller. The “processing unit” or “computer” may comprise one or more computer-readable storage media or memory modules, which may comprise transitory and non-transitory memory. The computer-readable storage media may encompass any electronic component capable of storing electronic information. The computer-readable storage media or memory may include transitory processor-readable media such as random access memory (RAM) or cache memory. The computer-readable storage media or memory may include non-transitory processor-readable media such as read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), flash memory, magnetic or optical data storage, registers, etc. The memory is in electronic communication with a processor as disclosed herein and / or other processors of the computer. Computer-readable instructions, such as an operating system, middleware, firmware or other software framework, may reside in the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Computer-readable instructions may be implemented as a program or a code that can be read by the processor. The disclosed method may be implemented as a program or a code that can be read by the processor of the unmanned moving object. Accordingly, in an embodiment, there is provided a computer of an unmanned moving object operable to perform the method as disclosed herein. Exemplary processing unit include a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a controller, a microcontroller, a state machine, programmable gate arrays, systems-on-chip (SoC), programmable SoCs, or other suitable devices. The term “in-vehicle display apparatus” may include any form of display apparatus operating within a passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. Suitable example includes digital display apparatus, digital cluster and head up display but not limited thereto. In some embodiment, an in-vehicle display apparatus may be a mobile communication device with a displaying zone, in connection with the motor vehicle either by wire or wireless communication. FIG. 1 shows a flowchart for a method 100 of a virtual travel companion in accordance with a preferred embodiment. At step 102, the method comprises obtaining an information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling. The information relative to the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling may be obtained by an information module. In a next step 104, the method comprises recognising at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling. Step 104 can be carried out by a processing unit, for executing a set of instructions for identifying at least one point of interest. In a next step 106, the method comprises transmitting a recommended content comprising the at least one point of interest recognised within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling from previous step 104 to an in-vehicle display apparatus. At step 108, a recommendation content identifying the at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the vehicle is traveling is displayed on the in-vehicle display apparatus. A main advantage of the above method as disclosed provides a recommendation content to be displayed on an in-vehicle display apparatus by way of a a virtual travel companion for a motor vehicle, which displays a recommendation content identifying one or more points of interest within a vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling on an in-vehicle display apparatus. The virtual travel companion provides a solution to vehicle operators and passengers on a road trip to visit places of interest or tourist attraction locations on a road trip. Preferably, the method further includes a step of retrieving a user’s preference profile pre-stored in a memory. The user’s preference profile may be pre-stored in a memory of a processing unit or retrieved from cloud storage. Preferably, the method includes identifying the at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling for producing the recommendation content in accordance with a user’s preference profile. The at least one point of interest comprises a tourist attraction site, a food and beverage establishment and / or a retail establishment but not limited thereto. Examples of tourist attraction site include natural and cultural sites; historical places; monuments; zoos and game reserves; aquaria; museums and art galleries; gardens; national parks; architectural structures; theme parks; festivals and events, where tourist may visit. Preferably, in response to displaying the recommendation content on the in-vehicle display apparatus, the processing unit is operable to execute instruction for alerting a user, by way of a natural language voice assistant executable. This feature alert or inform a user of the at least one point of interest identified. Preferably, in response to displaying the recommendation content on the in-vehicle display apparatus, executing, by way of the processing unit, a visual notification on the recommendation content being displayed. This feature allows a user to visualise the at least one point of interest identified, based on the recommendation content displayed on the in-vehicle display apparatus. Preferably, the recommendation content further comprises an advertisement relative to the at least one point of interest recognised. This feature allows third party such as merchants to advertisement in relation to their business, to inform an owner of a motor vehicle with a virtual travel companion installed with regard to ongoing promotion related to the at least one point of interest recognised within the vicinity. Preferably, all of the above steps may be executable by an artificial neural network. A suitable type of artificial neural network may convolutional neural network (CNN), for image processing applications, to recognise at least one point of interest within a vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling. FIG. 2 shows a system (200) block diagram of a virtual travel companion in accordance with a preferred embodiment. The virtual travel companion system 200 comprises a processing unit 202 and a location information module 204. The location information module 204 is operable to obtain information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling. The processing unit 202 is operable to identify at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling. Further, the processing unit 202 is operable to transmit a recommendation content comprising the at least one point of interest recognised within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling to an in-vehicle display apparatus 206. The processing unit 202 is further operable to display a recommendation content on the in-vehicle display 206, to identify the at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling. The location information module 204 is operable to determine information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling using information relative to the location. For example, the location information module 204 may receive image data from images captured by a vision system, such as a surround view camera of the motor vehicle. Another suitable source of information may be maps application programming interface (API) from public data base which is pre-stored in the location information module 204. The processing unit 202 is further operable to retrieve a user’s preference profile to provide a personalised recommendation content based on the user’s preference profile. Preferably, the user’s preference profile may in the form of questionnaire done by an individual user. Another type of user’s preference profile may be in the form of a survey done according to consumer demographics. The user’s preference profile may be pre-stored in memory of the processing unit 202 or stored in an external memory such as a cloud storage. A main advantage of the above system as disclosed provides a recommendation content to be displayed on an in-vehicle display apparatus by way of a virtual travel companion for a motor vehicle, which displays a recommendation content identifying one or more points of interest within a vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling on an in-vehicle display apparatus. The virtual travel companion provides a solution to vehicle operators and passengers on a road trip to visit places of interest or tourist attraction locations on a road trip. In all of the above embodiments, the processing unit 202 may include an artificial neural network suitable for image processing, to recognise the at least one point of interest. A suitable type of artificial neural network may be a convolutional neural network (CNN). For clarity and brevity, the use of CNN to execute machine learning or artificial intelligence algorithms may be better understood from the paper “Understanding of a convolutional neural network” published in 2017 International Conference on Engineering and Technology, IEEE. It shall be further understood by a skilled practitioner, other types of neural network may be suitable, without departing from the scope and spirit of the main inventive concept of this disclosure. In all of the above embodiments, the processing unit 202 may be an artificial intelligence processing unit also known as Al PU or an Al chip, an Al SoC specifically fabricated to execute machine learning algorithms, typically by operating on predictive models such as artificial neural networks. They are usually classified as either training or inference as these processes are generally performed independently. In all of the above embodiments, the transmission of recommendation content may be in the form of wired or wireless communication, of which the transmission of recommendation content may be in the form of a signal carrying information data of the recommendation content. The foregoing description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not be limited thereto. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that certain modifications may come within the scope of this disclosure. Although the different non-limiting embodiments are illustrated as having specific components or steps, the embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to those combinations. Some of the components or features from any of the non-limiting embodiments may be used in combination with features or components from any of the other non-limiting embodiments. For these reasons, the appended claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this disclosure.

Claims

Patent claims1. A method (100) of providing a virtual travel companion for a motor vehicle, the method comprising:obtaining (102), by way of a location information module, an information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling; andrecognising (104), by way of a processing unit, at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling,characterized by that:the method further comprises:transmitting (106), by way of the processing unit, a recommendation content comprising the at least one point of interest recognised within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling to an in-vehicle display apparatus;anddisplaying (108), by way of the in-vehicle display apparatus, a recommendation content identifying the at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling.

2. The method (100) according to claim 1, characterized by that the method further comprises:retrieving, by way of the processing unit, a user’s preference profile;andidentifying, by way of the processing unit, the at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is travelingfor producing the recommendation content in accordance with a user’s preference profile.

3. The method (100) according to claims 1 - 2, characterized by that the at least one point of interest comprises:a tourist attraction site;a food and beverage establishment;a retail establishmentor combination thereof.

4. The method (100) according to claim 3, characterized by that the tourist attraction site is selected from a group consisting of:natural and cultural sites; historical places; monuments; zoos and game reserves; aquaria; museumsand art galleries; gardens; national parks; architectural structures; theme parks; festivals and events, and combination thereof.

5. The method (100) according to any one of claims 1 - 4, characterized by that the method further comprises:in response to displaying the recommendation content on the in-vehicle display apparatus,alerting a user, by way of a natural language voice assistant executable by the processing unit.

6. The method (100) according to any one of claims 1-5, characterised by that the method further comprises:in response to displaying the recommendation content on the in-vehicle display apparatus,executing, by way of the processing unit, a visual notification on the recommendation content being displayed.

7. The method (100) according to any one of claims 1 - 6, characterised by that the recommendation content further comprises an advertisement relative to the at least one point of interest recognised.

8. The method (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the method comprising the steps as defined in claims 1 to 7 are executable by an artificial neural network.

9. A virtual travel companion system (200) for use onboard a motor vehicle, the system comprises:a processing unit (202); anda location information module (204) operable to obtain information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling, wherein the processing unit (202) is operable to identify at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling;characterized in that:the processing unit (202) is further operable to:transmit a recommendation content comprising the at least one point of interest recognised within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling to an in-vehicle display apparatus (206);anddisplay a recommendation content on the in-vehicle display (206), to identify the at least one point of interest within the vicinity where the motor vehicle is traveling.

10. The system (200) according to claim 9, characterized by that the location information module (204) is operable to determine information relative to a vicinity where a motor vehicle is traveling usingimage data from images captured by a vision system of the motor vehicle;maps application programming interface (API), or combination thereof.11 .The system (200) according to claim 10, characterised by in characterized in that the processing unit (202) comprises an artificial neural network.

12. The system (200) according to claims 9-10, characterized in that the processing unit (202) is an artificial intelligence (Al) processing unit.

13. A computer program comprising instructions to cause the system (200) of claims 9 - 12 to execute the steps of the method (100) of claims 1 - 8.

14. A computer readable medium having stored thereon the computer program of claim 13.

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