Communication assistance for a vehicle

Abstract

A control system 100 for a vehicle is configured to: receive an assistance request to initiate communication between the vehicle and a third party. In dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal 210 by the third party, send a signal to a display screen of the vehicle 204 which causes the display screen to display 206 a visual indicator. The visual indicator indicates the availability of transmitting a response to the third party by provision of a non-audio message user input. The system receives a non-audio message user input indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator; and transmit a message 216 corresponding to the non-audio message user input to the third party 208. The system enables hearing impaired, deaf or mute users to communicate with third parties using non-audio communication in the event of an accident or breakdown.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a control system for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle. Aspects of the invention relate to a control system, to a vehicle system, a vehicle, a computer-implemented method for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle, and computer readable instructions to perform the method. BACKGROUND It is known to provide means for communication between an occupant of a vehicle to a recipient outside the vehicle. For example, a driver may be able to have a phonecall with a party external to the vehicle, such as an assistance service (e.g. a breakdown recovery service or an emergency service). Such audio communication may not be accessible for all vehicle users, such as those users who aredeaf or hard of hearing. Furthermore, such a user who has difficulty hearing may not be aware that there is an audio call in progress as they may be unable to hear the external party speaking. It is an aim of the present invention to address one or more of the disadvantages associated with the prior art. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Aspects and embodiments of the invention provide a control system for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle. Aspects of the invention relate to a control system, to a vehicle system, a vehicle, and a computer-implemented method for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle as claimed in the appended claims. According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a control system for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle, the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to: receive an assistance request signal indicative of an assistance request event, the assistance request signal configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle and a third party; in dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, send a signal to a display screen of the vehicle, wherein the signal causes the display screen to display a visual indicator, the visual indicator indicative of the initiation of the communication connection; receive a user input indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator; and transmit the message to the third party. The control system comprises one or more controllers collectively comprising at least one electronic processor having an electrical input for receiving an input signal; and at least one memory device electrically coupled to the at least one electronic processor and having instructions stored therein; and wherein the at least one electronic processor is configured to access the at least one memory device and execute the instructions thereon so as to: receive an assistance request signal as an input signal, the assistance request signal indicative of an assistance request event, the assistance request signal configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle and a third party; in dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, send a signal to a display screen of the vehicle, wherein the signal causes the display screen to display a visual indicator, the visual indicator indicative of the initiation of the communication connection; receive a user input as a further user input, the user input indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator; and transmit the message to the third party. Advantageously, when a communication connection is made between a vehicle and a third party in relation to assistance being required by the vehicle, a visual indicator is provided to the user to indicate that the communication is taking place. The user can respond to the third party by providing a message in response to seeing that the visual indicator is displayed. If the user is hard of hearing, or if the user is in a panic or state of shock due to the situation requiring assistance, such as a breakdown or car accident, the visual indicator aids the user to understand that a call is in progress. The user can then provide a user input to indicate a message to send back to the caller in response and send the message. According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a control system for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle, the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to: receive an assistance request signal indicative of an assistance request event, the assistance request signal configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle and a third party; in dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, send a signal to a display screen of the vehicle, wherein the signal causes the display screen to display a visual indicator, the visual indicator indicative of the initiation of the communication connection and the availability of transmitting a response to the third party by provision of a non-audio message user input; receive a non-audio message user input indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator; and transmit a message corresponding to the non-audio message user input to the third party. The control system comprises one or more controllers collectively comprising at least one electronic processor having an electrical input for receiving an input signal; and at least one memory device electrically coupled to the at least one electronic processor and having instructions stored therein; and wherein the at least one electronic processor is configured to access the at least one memory device and execute the instructions thereon so as to: receive an assistance request signal as an input signal, the assistance request signal indicative of an assistance request event, the assistance request signal configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle and a third party; in dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, send a signal to a display screen of the vehicle, wherein the signal causes the display screen to display a visual indicator, the visual indicator indicative of the initiation of the communication connection and the availability of transmitting a response to the third party by provision of a non-audio message user input; receive a non-audio message user input as a further user input, the non-audio message user input indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator; and transmit a message corresponding to the non-audio message user input to the third party. The system may advantageously supplement an audio calling system which allows for drivers and third parties to speak to each other in the event with an assistance request events taking place such as a crash or breakdown. For example, for drivers who are deaf or hard of hearing, or if a driver is in a state of shock or panic due to an accident or breakdown situation, they may not be aware of an audio call taking place. Being visually prompted that the communication is taking place is advantageous so that the user is able to respond to the messages from the third party. The user may be better able to respond, and to respond appropriately, given the ability to provide a non-audio message input in response to being prompted that audio communication with a third party is in progress. The user may be better able to control what third party assistance is provided. For example, rather than the third party receiving no spoken response from a user who is unable to speak or who cannot hear that a call is in progress (which may as a default action call the emergency services to be deployed to the vehicle), the third party call handler can receive a response from the driver who has been visually prompted that the call is taking place and can provide a non-audio response, so that appropriate assistance is provided rather than the default. The communication connection may be an audio communication connection in some examples. That is, the vehicle may initiate an audio communication connection between the vehicle and the third party, e.g. a telephone call or internet-based audio call. Advantageously, the control system may operate using existing audio communication technology and inputs made for transmission in the call which are non-audio may be converted to audio in some examples, and / or non-audio communication may be used alongside audio communication to supplement audio communication on the audio communication channel. The assistance request signal may comprise one or more of: a breakdown assistance request signal generated in response to a user of the vehicle providing an input to a breakdown assistance input device of the vehicle; an emergency assistance request signal generated in response to a user of the vehicle providing an input to an emergency assistance input device of the vehicle; a breakdown assistance request signal generated in response to a determination, by a breakdown module of the vehicle, that a vehicle breakdown event has occurred; and an accident request signal generated in response to one or more sensors of vehicle detecting that a crash event has occurred. Advantageously, the system may be used to assist drivers in the event of a driver making a breakdown call from the vehicle e.g. via a hard wired breakdown call button, the driver making an emergency assistance call from the vehicle e.g. via a hard wired emergency call button, a breakdown assistance call being automatically placed in the event of sensor data (e.g. crash sensors present at the bumper(s), wheel(s) etc of the vehicle) indicative of a breakdown event having taken place, or an emergency assistance call being automatically placed in the event of crash detection. Existing breakdown and emergency call systems may be advantageously supplemented by the user being visually prompted to the call taking place and having the functionality available to respond in a non-audio way in the call, to communicate clearly and effectively with the third party. The third party to whom the message is transmitted in response to the non-audio message user input may be an assistance service associated with the vehicle manufacturer or a breakdown recovery service, or an emergency service provider such as the police, ambulance service, or fire service. The non-audio message user input indicative of the message to be provided to the third party may comprise one or more of: an audio activation message input configured to provide a message to the third party to indicate that the message sender is hard of hearing, and to activate an audio reception device of the vehicle, the audio reception device configured to, following activation and the provision of the message to the third party to indicate that the message sender is hard of hearing, receive a spoken audio message from the message sender and provide the spoken audio message for transmission to the third party; free-text textual message input, wherein the vehicle comprises a free-text text entry device configured to receive a textual message entered by a user; and a selection input of a pre-composed message, wherein the display screen is configured to present one or more pre-composed messages for user selection. Advantageously, once the user is prompted by the display of the visual prompt that a call is in progress and that a response can be provided, there are different possible ways in which the user can provide a response to the third party. The user may select an option by pressing a button or touching an area of a touch screen which provides an input to cause a message to go to the third party to indicate that the vehicle is unable to hear audio output well. The third party can then understand how the user is reacting in the call and understand that they may be communicating by a method other than simply speaking and listening. The user may be able to speak to the third party but the third party has been informed that the user is not able to listen to an audio response and may instead be receiving the third party’s comments in an alternative way, such as displayed following text to speech conversion. The user may be able to enter a free-text message, for example by a keyboard such as a virtual keyboard displayed on a display screen of the vehicle, advantageously allowing the user to respond in an unrestricted way to the third party without needing to speak. The user may be able to select a pre-composed message presented on a screen of the vehicle, advantageously allowing the user to quickly and easily select a response to a third party caller without needing to speak. If the non-audio message user input comprises the selection of one or more of the pre-composed messages, the one or more pre-composed messages displayed for selection may be one or more of: a textual precomposed message; an image-based pictorial pre-composed message; and an image-based sign-language pre-composed message. Advantageously, the pre-composed message which the user can select to communicate with the third party can be of a different form, which may be set up as a user preference in the driver’s preference settings for the vehicle. For example, some users may be most comfortable with reading a textual message to understand what will be sent to the third party, whereas another user may be most comfortable with pictorial message such as a symbol, and a user whose first language is a sign language may be most comfortable with selecting a pre-composed message represented as sign language. If the non-audio message user input comprises the selection of one or more of the pre-composed messages, the content of the one or more pre-composed messages may be dependent on one or more of: the type of the third party with whom the communication connection is initiated being a breakdown service operator, or an emergency service operator; and one or more sensor types, wherein the assistance request signal is initiated by one or more sensors of the one or more sensor types of the vehicle detecting that a crash event has occurred. Advantageously, if the messages presented for selection are pre-composed messages, these may be selected and presented according to the circumstances of the third party call. For example if the call is with a breakdown service third party, the precomposed messages may include a reference number of the driver’s breakdown policy car or may include a selection of options relating to the nature of the breakdown such as the suspected fault or the area where the car has come to a stop. As another example if the call is with the emergency services, the precomposed messages may include health or communication data, such as a hearing ability level of the user or other health information, and may include information on the number of passengers and any suspected injury or severity level of injury. As another example if the precomposed messages are dependent on a sensor type of a sensor detecting a crash event, the pre-composed message may state that a forward collision has taken place if a sensor at the front of the vehicle was activated, or that a puncture on a rear tyre has taken place as detected by a sensor at that rear tyre. If the non-audio message user input comprises the selection of one or more of the pre-composed messages, the control system may be configured to: receive the non-audio message user input indicative of the message to be provided to the third party in response to user selection of a displayed visual indicator; and transmit the message corresponding to the selected pre-composed textual message to the third party. Advantageously, the visual indicator which is displayed may act as an input object which the user can interact with to transmit a corresponding message to the third party. Such an arrangement may provide a simple and clear user interface for use by a user who may be in an emergency or stressful situation and find a simple presentation of information and a simple method of interacting with assistance to be beneficial. The pre-composed message may be displayed as an image-based message, and the control system may be configured to convert the message from image-based to a textual message prior to transmitting the message to the third party. Advantageously, the user can select an image representing the response which they wish to make to the third party, and the image can be converted into a textual message (possibly for onwards conversion into a speech message via text-to-speech conversion) for the third party operator. For example if the user is deaf, they may find it easiest to select an image representing a sign language representation of the message they wish to transmit, and this sign language representation may be converted to text and / or speech for the call handler if the call handler cannot understand sign language. The visual indicator may comprise one or more of: a textual message descriptive of the event causing the communication connection to be initiated; and an image indicative of the event causing the communication connection to be initiated. Advantageously, the visual indicator presented to the user may be textual or image based (for example a sign language representation of a message) indicating that a call has been placed to the third party. Initiation of the communication connection between the vehicle and a third party may comprise establishing a two-way audio call between the vehicle and the third party. Advantageously, the visual indication and receipt of a user response may take place alongside an ongoing audio call to supplement an existing audio call configuration for reporting breakdowns or emergency situations. The message transmitted to the third party may comprise: an indication that no assistance from the third party is to be provided; and a request to end an established two-way audio call. Advantageously, when an audio call is placed with the third party, the user is able to clearly indicate that no assistance is, in fact, required. For example, the system may be activated inadvertently or during a demonstration of vehicle features in a showroom, or an accident may be registered by a sensor even though the vehicle is drivable and the occupants are not injured. In these situations an emergency response to the vehicle may not be necessary, although in the event of the third party not receiving a spoken response from the driver in an ongoing audio call, dispatch of emergency responders may be the default action to take. Therefore advantageously the user is able to prevent dispatch of the emergency services or breakdown service if it is not in fact required, and is able to communicate with the third party to explain this. The control system may be configured to: receive message signalling from the third party, the message signalling configured to provide audio output from an audio output device of the vehicle; convert the message signalling from being configured to provide audio output to being configured to provide visual output from the display device of the vehicle; and cause the display device to output the visual output corresponding to the received message signalling. Advantageously, the control system is able to receive audio input from the third party caller and convert this into a visual representation for the user, for example if the user is deaf or hard of hearing then the user is still able to understand what the third party has said by way of receiving the message as a written textual message or in a video message showing sign language. In dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, the control system may be configured to automatically transmit one or more of the following to the third party: a current location of the vehicle; identification data of the registered vehicle owner; and health data of one or more occupants of the vehicle. Such information may be automatically provided to assist the third party in understand the reason for the call and to provide appropriate assistance without the vehicle occupant needing to provide such information. The control system may be configured to, in addition to the display of the visual indicator on a display screen of the vehicle, output one or more of: a visual alert indicator; and a haptic alert indicator. Such additional indication may assist in drawing the user’s attention to the situation and the ongoing call. In an aspect there is provided a vehicle system comprising: a control system disclosed herein; the display device; and a communication module configured to facilitate communication between the vehicle and the third party. Advantageously, the control system may be configured for use with a display device in the vehicle such as an infotainment or central display device, and be configured for use with a communication module to manage audio and other messaging with a third party. In an aspect there is provided a vehicle comprising any system disclosed herein or any control system disclosed herein. In an aspect there is provided a computer-implemented method for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle, the method comprising: receiving an assistance request signal indicative of an assistance request event, the assistance request signal configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle and a third party; sending a signal to a display screen of the vehicle in dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, wherein the signal causes the display screen to display a visual indicator, the visual indicator indicative of the initiation of the communication connection and the availability of transmitting a response to the third party by provision of a non-audio message input; receiving a non-audio message input indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator; and transmitting the message to the third party. In an aspect there is provided computer readable instructions which, when executed by a computer, are arranged to perform a method according to any described method. Within the scope of this application it is expressly intended that the various aspects, embodiments, examples and alternatives set out in the preceding paragraphs, in the claims and / or in the following description and drawings, and in particular the individual features thereof, may be taken independently or in any combination. That is, all embodiments and / or features of any embodiment can be combined in anyway and / or combination, unless such features are incompatible. The applicant reserves the right to change any originally filed claim or file any new claim accordingly, including the right to amend any originally filed claim to depend from and / or incorporate any feature of any other claim although not originally claimed in that manner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS One or more embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 shows a series of steps which a control system is configured to perform in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 shows a control system comprising a processor in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 shows a series of steps which a control system is configured to in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figure 5A to 5C illustrate schematic examples of displayed visual indicators and ways for a user to provide a non-audio message input in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; Figure 6 shows an example system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and Figure 7 shows an example method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION One in five people have a loss or total loss of hearing within the UK. Currently more than 1.5 billion people, nearly 20% of the global population, live with some hearing loss. Perhaps 430 million of these have disabling hearing loss. It is expected that by 2050, there could be over 700 million people worldwide with disabling hearing loss. As of today, assistance features such as a call to the emergency services or to a breakdown service made from within a vehicle using an emergency call function of the vehicle use two-way oral communication between the vehicle occupant and an assistive services operator. If the vehicle occupant is hard of hearing or deaf, then oral conversation may not be helpful, particularly in emergency situations where the occupant may be stressed, panicky or disoriented. The same is true if an oral conversation is not in their first language or is not of a type of communication in which they can readily participate. In a vehicle with an emergency call function, by which the vehicle occupants can manually activate the function and make contact with the emergency services or breakdown assistance, or by which the emergency services are contacted in response to a trigger function such as an airbag deploying, then audio / spoken communication is typically triggered with the emergency services. It may be that, by default, if the emergency call handler cannot hear an oral response from a vehicle occupant, the emergency services are dispatched to the vehicle. However, a deaf or hard of hearing person may not be able to hear the call handler speaking, and therefore not be aware that they need to respond. This unnecessarily causes emergency services to be dispatched when this is not an appropriate course of action. Current solutions for deaf or hard of hearing vehicle occupants include using their own mobile phones to call for assistance rather than using an inbuilt emergency calling feature of the vehicle. This has the disadvantage that other features of the emergency call feature of the vehicle are inaccessible for the user. Examples disclosed herein can use the signal sent in response to activating an emergency call feature or a trigger event such as an airbag deploying as a signal to provide additional communication functionality for the user to communicate with a third party, such as the emergency services. This additional communication functionality may be indicated to the user by displaying an indication on a display screen of the vehicle to indicate to the vehicle occupants that a call to a third party service has been initiated. Examples also provide for ways for the vehicle occupants to communicate with the third party that are supplementary to simply providing audio input by speaking, to make the onboard emergency calling systems more accessible and usable for a wider portion of the community. In practice, examples disclosed herein may be provided in a vehicle by way of downloading a computer program application (an “app”) to the control system of the vehicle, wherein the app may operate in a background mode, monitoring for a trigger event which can load the app fully and provide the communication functionality and visual indication of a call being placed to a third party. Advantageously, there need not be any change to existing emergency calling infrastructure of the vehicle, and the examples disclosed herein may be provided as an additional, or supplemental, functionality to improve accessibility to emergency calling features of the vehicle. A vehicle 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is described herein with reference to the accompanying Figure 1, The vehicle 10 comprises a vehicle system (shown in Figure 6) or a control system (shown in Figures 2 and 3) as disclosed herein for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle. The vehicle 10 also comprises the assistance system. An assistance system may be considered to comprise calling functionality allowing an occupant of the vehicle to make and hold an audio call with a third party assistance service. Figure 2 shows a series of steps which a control system 100 is configured to perform in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The control system 100 is for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle 10. The control system 100 comprises one or more processors collectively configured to receive an assistance request signal 210 indicative of an assistance request event 202. The assistance request signal 210 is configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle 10 and a third party. In dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal 210, the control system 100 is configured to send a signal 212 to a display screen of the vehicle 204, wherein the signal 212 causes the display screen to display a visual indicator. The visual indicator is indicative of the initiation of the communication connection. The control system 100 is configured to receive a user input 214 indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator 206, and to transmit the message 216 to the third party 208. Existing breakdown and emergency call systems may thus be advantageously supplemented by the user being visually prompted to the call taking place and having the functionality available to respond in a non-audio way in the call, to communicate clearly and effectively with the third party. The third party to whom the message 216 is transmitted in response to the non-audio message user input 214 may be an assistance service associated with the vehicle manufacturer or a breakdown recovery service, or an emergency service provider such as the police, ambulance service, or fire service. The assistance request signal 210 may be received in response to an event causing a call to be placed to a third party. For example, the assistance request signal 210 may comprise a breakdown assistance request signal generated in response to a user of the vehicle providing an input to a breakdown assistance input device of the vehicle, such as a dedicated “breakdown call-out” button. The assistance request signal may comprise a breakdown assistance request signal generated in response to a determination, by a breakdown module of the vehicle, that a vehicle breakdown event has occurred. Advantageously, the control system 100 may be used to assist drivers in the event of a driver making a breakdown call from the vehicle e.g. via a hard wired breakdown call button, ora breakdown assistance call may be automatically placed in the event of sensor data (e.g. crash sensors present at the bumper(s), wheel(s) etc of the vehicle) being received which is indicative of a breakdown event having taken place. The assistance request signal 210 may comprise an emergency assistance request signal generated in response to a user of the vehicle providing an input to an emergency assistance input device of the vehicle, such as a dedicated “emergency call-out” button. The assistance request signal 210 may comprise an accident request signal generated in response to one or more sensors of the vehicle 10 detecting that a crash event has occurred. Advantageously, the control system 100 may be used to assist drivers in the event of a driver making an emergency assistance call from the vehicle e.g. via a hard wired emergency call button, or an emergency assistance call being automatically placed in the event ofcrash detection. Figure 3 shows a control system 100 comprising a processor 120 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. The control system 100 may comprise one or more controllers 110 (one is illustrated in this example). The controller 110 comprises processing means 120 and memory means 1130. The processing means 120 may be one or more electronic processing device 120 which operably executes computer-readable instructions. The memory means 130 may be one or more memory device 130. The memory means 130 is electrically coupled to the processing means 120. The memory means 130 is configured to store instructions, and the processing means 120 is configured to access the memory means 130 and execute the instructions stored thereon. The control system 100 is configured to receive an assistance request signal as an input signal 165, for example from an assistance request input being made or an assistance event taking place and being detected by one or more sensors 160. The assistance request signal is indicative of an assistance request event. The assistance request signal is configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle and a third party. In dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, the control system 100 may then output a control signal 155 to control the displayed information on a display screen 170 (as a receiving module) of the vehicle. The control signal 155 causes the display screen 170 to display a visual indicator. The visual indicator is indicative of the initiation of the communication connection and the availability of transmitting a response to the third party by provision of a non-audio message user input. The control system 100 is configured to receive a non-audio message user input 165 as a further user input. The non-audio message user input 165 is indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator. The control system 100 is configured to transmit a message 155 corresponding to the non-audio message user input to the third party 170 as a receiving module. The controller 110 comprises an input means 140 and an output means 150. The input means 140 may comprise an electrical input 140 of the controller 110. The output means 150 may comprise an electrical output 150 of the controller 110. The input 140 is arranged to receive an assistance request signal 165 which is an electrical signal which is indicative of an assistance request event. The output 150 means is arranged to output a control signal 155 to control the displayed information on a display screen. The input means 140 is arranged to receive an non-audio message user input 165 which is indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator. The output means 150 is arranged to output a message 155 corresponding to the non-audio message user input to the third party 170. There may be plural input means 140 for receiving respective types of input signal 165, and similarly, there may be plural output means 150 for outputting different types of output signal 155. Figure 4 shows a series of steps which a control system is configured to implement in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Step 402 represents that the control system is set up by installing an application in the vehicle, for example to be run on the vehicle’s on-board computer. The application provides the functionality for at least a part of the on board computerto be configured to perform the functionality disclosed herein. The ability to install an application to provide the functionality is advantageous as the user can choose to install the application if they wish to use the functionality and choose not to install the application, or choose to put the application into a sleep mode or similar, to prevent the functionality being available. Step 404 represents that the application may be activated or not. In some examples, each driver of the vehicle may have an associated user profile which is loaded up when that driver is identified as occupying ordriving the vehicle, and there may be information in each user profile to indicate whether or not to activate the app / functionality or not. For example, a deaf driver may want the functionality activated whereas a hearing driver may not wish to have the application activated (and free up computational resources for other activities). In some examples, the driver may provide information to the vehicle on board computer that they are hard of hearing or deaf, and as a result, the functionality of the application and one or more other deaf / hard of hearing assistance features may be automatically activated. Step 406 represents the app operating in a background mode, “listening” for an event to indicate that an assistance call has been placed. That is, the app may be considered to be in a stand-by mode wherein, on receiving a signal to indicate that the assistance call has been placed, the app then enables additional functionality as discussed herein. Step 408 represents that an assistance / emergency event signal has been triggered within the vehicle, and step 410 represents the event signal being transmitted to the application to indicate that an assistance call to a third party will be initiated due to a crash or other assistance / emergency event taking place. For example, the application may be operating in a mode in step 406 wherein it can receive data to indicate that a breakdown or emergency button has been pressed, that a sensor has recorded data indicative of a crash event or medical emergency event, or similar. In some examples, the application may be linked to medical monitoring functionality in the vehicle, so for example if the driver is detected as being unresponsive or unable to safely operate the vehicle (e.g. they have had a stroke, are asleep, have had a seizure, etc) then the vehicle may autonomously navigate to a safe stopping place and stop the car’s motion, the vehicle may generate an emergency event signal in step 408, and the application may receive the emergency event signal in step 410 to indicate that assistance is required, and operate as disclosed herein alongside an automatically placed audio call to the emergency services. Step 412 represents the audio call to the third party taking place due to the assistance I emergency event taking place and being detected. In this step there may also be a sharing of data from the vehicle and / or vehicle sensors to the third party to help the call recipient understand what has happened to trigger the audio call being placed. Such a call may be called an eCall (emergency call) or bCall (breakdown call) in some examples. Step 414 represents the application then operating as disclosed, to present a visual indicator on a display screen of the vehicle indicative of the triggering of the audio call and that a response may be provided to the third party on the call through provision of a non-audio message user input. Step 416 represents the display of user selectable options on the display screen which a user may interact with to provide a non-audio response. Examples are shown in Figures 5A-5C of what may be presented on the display screen. Such examples may include the availability of a pre-prepared message to send to the third party, such as “emergency medical help required”, “I have had a crash but do not need the emergency services” or “please end the call, no assistance needed (test call)”, for example. Figure 5A to 5C illustrate schematic examples of displayed visual indicators 502 on a display screen 500 of the vehicle, and ways for a user to provide a non-audio message input in accordance with embodiments of the invention. Figures 5A-5C show a visual indicator 502 indicative of an audio call to the third party being initiated. Figure 5C shows an example of a visual indicator 502b which is indicative of the reason for the call being placed with third party and is discussed below. While an example of a telephone symbol 502 is shown, the visual indicator 502 may be any displayed content which serves to visually indicate to the vehicle occupant that an audio call has been initiated. For example, the visual indicator may comprise a different symbol (such as an exclamation mark, a connection symbol, or other alert symbol), a flashing indicator on the display screen, a flashing indicator elsewhere in the vehicle such as an LED flashing or being illuminated on the dashboard to steering wheel, or the display of an object which is itself configured to allow a message input to be entered (such as a virtual keyboard 506, preset message 508a-b, or other means). As in Figure 5A, the non-audio message user input indicative of the message to be provided to the third party may comprise an audio activation message input configured to provide a message to the third party to indicate that the message sender is hard of hearing or deaf, but can speak and intends to provide a spoken reply to the third party. In this example this input can be provided by the user interacting with the call symbol 504 to indicate to the third party that they can provide audio input (and thus the third party can hear the user speaking) but the user is hard of hearing or deaf and cannot hear audio from the third party. The non-audio message user input may also activate an audio reception device (e.g. a microphone) of the vehicle. The audio reception device is configured to, following activation and the provision of the message to the third party to indicate that the message sender is hard of hearing, receive a spoken audio message from the message sender and provide the spoken audio message for transmission to the third party. This example may be useful for the third party to understand that the vehicle occupant providing the spoken responses cannot hear and is understanding what the third party caller is saying through some conversion of the third party’s speech to non-audio, such as via speech-to-text or speech-to sign language conversion. The non-audio message user input may also activate, in some examples, speech-to-text functionality, speech-to-image functionality, or speech-to-sign language functionality, so that spoken / audio input from the third party is converted into text or another visual communication representation from speech for display to the vehicle occupant. As in Figure 5E3, the non-audio message user input may comprise a free-text textual message input. The vehicle in such an example, as shown, comprises a free-text text entry device configured to receive a textual message entered by a user. Figure 5B shows the display screen with a virtual keyboard 506 displayed by which a user can enter a free text message and transmit that message to the third party (either in written I textual form, or audio form through text-to-speech conversion of the written message). The keyboard 506 or text entry means need not necessarily be a virtual keyboard 506 nor part of the same display which is displaying the visual indicator 502 - in other examples, the keyboard may be a physical keyboard in the vehicle or may be a virtual keyboard on a different display screen to that displaying the visual indicator 502. In such an example, the user is able to type in whatever response they wish. In some examples, there may be predictive text functionality to assist the user in easily or quickly providing a response; for example, a user initially typing in “I do not need...” may be presented with a predicted further text input of “any medical assistance or “a police response , which the user can select by touching the predicted test on the display screen 500 or by any other suitable method known in the art of predictive text. As shown in Figure 5C, the non-audio message user input may comprise a selection input of a pre-composed message, wherein the display screen is configured to present one or more pre-composed messages 508a, 508b, 508c for user selection. In this example the pre-composed message sent to the third party may be a written form of the message received by the third party (e.g. an icon 508a saying “ambulance required”). A plurality of possible pre-composed messages may be displayed for the user to select one or more for sending to the third party. In some examples, a “pre-composed messages” icon or object may be presented for selection and, once selected, the available pre-composed messages are displayed as textual representations of the precomposed messages to the user for selection. The pre-composed message may be represented as a symbol 508b which the user can select, wherein the symbol is indicative of the message to be sent to the third party (e.g. a “thumbs-up” symbol to transmit a message of “we are OK” to the third party, or a “police car” symbol to indicate that a police response is required). The pre-composed message may be represented pictorially as a “sign language image” 508c, such as by an image or animation of a person communicating in British Sign Language BSL, American Sign Language ASL, or other accepted Sign Language 508c which the user can select, and a corresponding message is then sent to the third party (in written text or audio form by providing the response associated with the selected image 508c). The particular sign language (e.g. British BSL, American ASL) may be pre-set by the user or may be automatically determined based on a user profile, for example. In summary, if the non-audio message user input comprises the selection of one or more of the pre-composed messages 508a-c, the one or more pre-composed messages 508a-c displayed for selection may be one or more of: a textual pre-composed message 508a; an image-based pictorial pre-composed message 508b; and an image-based sign-language pre-composed message 508c. Advantageously, the pre-composed message 508a-c which the user can select to communicate with the third party can be of a different form, which may be set up as a user preference in the driver’s preference settings for the vehicle. For example, some users may be most comfortable with reading a textual message to understand what will be sent to the third party, whereas another user may be most comfortable with pictorial message such as a symbol, and a user whose first language is a sign language may be most comfortable with selecting a pre-composed message represented as sign language. If the non-audio message user input comprises the selection of one or more of the pre-composed messages 508a-c, the content of the one or more pre-composed messages may be dependent on one or more of: the type of the third party with whom the communication connection is initiated being a breakdown service operator, or an emergency service operator; and one or more sensor types, wherein the assistance request signal is initiated by one or more sensors of the one or more sensor types of the vehicle detecting that a crash event has occurred. Advantageously, if the messages presented for selection are pre-composed messages, these may be selected and presented according to the circumstances of the third party call. For example if the call is with a breakdown service third party, the precomposed messages may include a reference number of the driver’s breakdown insurance policy or may include a selection of options relating to the nature of the breakdown such as the suspected fault, sensors activated, or the location where the car has come to a stop. As another example, if the call is with the emergency services, the precomposed messages may include health or communication data, such as a hearing ability level of the user or other health information, and may include information on the number of passengers and any suspected injury or severity level of injury. As another example if the precomposed messages are dependent on a sensor type of a sensor detecting a crash event, the pre-composed message may state that a forward collision has taken place if a sensor at the front of the vehicle was activated, or that a puncture on a rear tyre has taken place as detected by a sensor at that rear tyre. If the non-audio message user input comprises the selection of one or more of the pre-composed messages 508a-c, the control system may be configured to: receive the non-audio message user input indicative of the message to be provided to the third party in response to user selection of a displayed visual indicator; and transmit the message corresponding to the selected pre-composed textual message to the third party Advantageously, the visual indicator which is displayed may act as an input object which the user can interact with to transmit a corresponding message to the third party. Such an arrangement may provide a simple and clear user interface for use by a user who may be in an emergency or stressful situation and find a simple presentation of information and a simple method of interacting with assistance to be beneficial. The pre-composed message may be displayed as an image-based message 508b, 508c, and the control system may be configured to convert the message from image-based to a textual message prior to transmitting the message to the third party. Advantageously, the user can select an image representing the response which they wish to make to the third party, and the image can be converted into a textual message (possibly for onwards conversion into a speech message via text-to-speech conversion) for the third party operator. For example if the user is deaf, they may find it easiest to select an image representing a sign language representation of the message they wish to transmit, and this sign language representation may be converted to text and / or speech for the call handler if the call handler cannot understand sign language. The visual indicator 502b as shown in Figure 5C may in some examples comprise one or more of: a textual message descriptive of the event causing the communication connection to be initiated (the illustrated example states “ / 999 call in progress 1 ’); and an image indicative of the event causing the communication connection to be initiated. Advantageously, the visual indicator 502b presented to the user may be textual or image based (for example a sign language representation of a message) indicating that a call has been placed to the third party and may indicate some information about the reason or nature of the call. In some examples, the display of an object 504, 506, 508a-c may itself serve as the visual indicator 502, 502b with which the user can interact to provide a response. An example may be the display of one or more buttons stating respectively, for example, “999 help needed - accident”, “no medical help needed but breakdown assistance needed” or “false alarm, no assistance needed”. Advantageously, once the user is prompted by the display of the visual prompt 502, 502b that a call is in progress and that a response can be provided, there are different possible ways 504, 506, 508a-c in which the user can provide a response to the third party. Initiation of the communication connection between the vehicle and a third party may comprise establishing a two-way audio call between the vehicle and the third party. Advantageously, the visual indication 502, 502b and receipt of a user response may take place alongside an ongoing audio call to supplement an existing audio call configuration for reporting breakdowns or emergency situations. The message transmitted to the third party in some examples may comprise: an indication that no assistance from the third party is to be provided; and a request to end an established two-way audio call. When an audio call is placed with the third party, but the user does not actually need assistance from the third party, the user is able to clearly indicate that no assistance is, in fact, required. For example, the system may be activated inadvertently or during a demonstration of vehicle features in a showroom, or an accident may be registered by a sensor even though the vehicle is drivable and the occupants are not injured. In these situations an emergency response to the vehicle may not be necessary, although in the event of the third party not receiving a spoken response from the driver in an ongoing audio call, dispatch of emergency responders may be the default action to take. Therefore advantageously the user is able to recognise from the visual indication that an assistance call has been initiated, and the user can prevent dispatch of the emergency services or breakdown service if it is not in fact required, by communicating with the third party to explain this. The control system 100 in some examples may be configured to receive message signalling from the third party, the message signalling configured to provide audio output from an audio output device of the vehicle; convert the message signalling from being configured to provide audio output to being configured to provide visual output from the display device of the vehicle; and cause the display device to output the visual output corresponding to the received message signalling. In other words, the control system 100 may have or have access to speech-to-text or speech-to-sign language conversion, to convert a third party spoken message to a visual representation. Advantageously, the control system is able to receive audio input from the third party callerand convert this into a visual representation forthe user, for example if the user is deaf or hard of hearing then the user is still able to understand what the third party has said by way of receiving the message as a written textual message or in a video message showing sign language. In dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, the control system 100 may be configured to automatically transmit one or more of the following to the third party: a current location of the vehicle; identification data of the registered vehicle owner; and health data of one or more occupants of the vehicle. Such information may be automatically provided to assist the third party to understand the reason forthe call and to provide appropriate assistance without the vehicle occupant needing to provide such information. The control system 100 may be configured, in addition to the display of the visual indicator 502 on a display screen of the vehicle, to output one or more of: a visual alert indicator (such as a flashing image, symbol, or light); and a haptic alert indicator (such as a vibration of the steering wheel, seat, gearstick, or other item in contact with the vehicle occupant). Such additional indication may assist in drawing the users attention to the situation and the ongoing call. Figure 6 shows an example vehicle system 600 in accordance with examples disclosed herein. The vehicle system 600 comprises the control system 100, a display device 500 and a communication module 650, both in connection with the control system 100. The communication module 650 is configured to facilitate communication between the vehicle and a third party 660. Advantageously, the control system 100 may be configured for use with a display device 500 in the vehicle such as an infotainment or central display device, and be configured for use with a communication module 650 to manage audio and other messaging with a third party. Figure 7 shows an example method 700 in accordance with examples disclosed herein. The method 700 is a computer-implemented method for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle 10, such as the vehicle 10 illustrated in Figure 1. The method 700 may be performed by the control system 100 illustrated in Figure 2 and Figure 3, or the vehicle system 600 illustrated in Figure 6. In particular, with reference to Figure 3, the memory 130 may comprise computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processor 120, perform the method 700 according to an embodiment of the invention. The method comprises: receiving an assistance request signal indicative of an assistance request event 702, the assistance request signal configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle and a third party; sending a signal to a display screen of the vehicle in dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal 704, wherein the signal causes the display screen to display a visual indicator and the visual indicator is indicative of the initiation of the communication connection and the availability of transmitting a response to the third party by provision of a non-audio message input; receiving a non-audio message input indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator 706; and transmitting the message to the third party 708. There is provided computer readable instructions which, when executed by a computer, are arranged to perform such a method as shown in Figure 7 or other method disclosed herein. The instructions may be stored on a memory 130 and executed by a processor 120 as shown in Figure 3, for example. It will be appreciated that various changes and modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A control system for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle, the control system comprising one or more processors collectively configured to:receive an assistance request signal indicative of an assistance request event, the assistance request signal configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle and a third party;in dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, send a signal to a display screen of the vehicle, wherein the signal causes the display screen to display a visual indicator, the visual indicator indicative of the initiation of the communication connection and the availability of transmitting a response to the third party by provision of a non-audio message user input;receive a non-audio message user input indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator; andtransmit a message corresponding to the non-audio message user input to the third party.

2. The control system of claim 1, wherein the assistance request signal comprises one or more of:a breakdown assistance request signal generated in response to a user of the vehicle providing an input to a breakdown assistance input device of the vehicle, or in response to a determination, by a breakdown module of the vehicle, that a vehicle breakdown event has occurred; andan emergency assistance request signal generated in response to a user of the vehicle providing an input to an emergency assistance input device of the vehicle or in response to one or more sensors of vehicle detecting that a crash event has occurred.

3. The control system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the non-audio message user input indicative of the message to be provided to the third party comprises one or more of:an audio activation message input, which audio activation message input provides a message to the third party to indicate that the message sender is hard of hearing, and activates an audio reception device of the vehicle, the audio reception device being configured to, following activation and the provision of the message to the third party to indicate that the message sender is hard of hearing, receive a spoken audio message from the message sender and provide the spoken audio message for transmission to the third party;free-text textual message input, wherein the vehicle comprises a free-text text entry device configured to receive a textual message entered by a user for transmission to the third party; anda pre-composed message input, wherein the display screen is configured to present one or more pre-composed messages for user selection and transmission to the third party.

4. The control system of claim 3, wherein the non-audio message user input comprises the precomposed message input, and wherein the one or more pre-composed messages are displayed for selection as one or more of:a textual pre-composed message;an image-based pictorial pre-composed message; andan image-based sign-language pre-composed message.

5. The control system of claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the non-audio message user input comprises the pre-composed message input, and wherein content of the one or more pre-composed messages is dependent on one or more of:a type of the third party with whom the communication connection is initiated being a breakdown service operator, or an emergency service operator; and / orone or more sensor types when the assistance request signal is initiated by one or more sensors of the one or more sensor types of the vehicle detecting that a crash event has occurred.

6. The control system of any of claims 3 to 5, wherein the non-audio message user input comprises thepre-composed message input, and wherein the control system is configured to:receive the non-audio message user input indicative of the message to be provided to the third party in response to user selection of a displayed visual indicator; andtransmit the message corresponding to the selected pre-composed textual message to the third party.

7. The control system of claim 6, wherein the pre-composed message is displayed as an image-based message, and the control system is configured to convert the message from image-based to a textual message prior to transmitting the message to the third party.

8. The control system of any preceding claim, wherein the visual indicator comprises one or more of: a textual message descriptive of the event causing the communication connection to be initiated;andan image indicative of the event causing the communication connection to be initiated.

9. The control system of any preceding claim, wherein initiation of the communication connection between the vehicle and a third party comprises establishing a two-way audio call between the vehicle and the third party.

10. The control system of any preceding claim, wherein the message transmitted to the third party comprises:an indication that no assistance from the third party is to be provided; and a request to end an established two-way audio call.

11. The control system of any preceding claim, wherein the control system is configured to: receive message signalling from the third party, the message signalling configured to provide audio output from an audio output device of the vehicle;convert the message signalling from being configured to provide audio output to being configured to provide visual output from the display device of the vehicle; andcause the display device to output the visual output corresponding to the received message signalling.

12. A vehicle system comprising:the control system of any preceding claim;the display device; anda communication module configured to facilitate communication between the vehicle and the third party.

13. A vehicle comprising the system of claim 12 or the control system of claims 1 to 11.

14. A computer-implemented method for controlling an assistance system of a vehicle, the method comprising:receiving an assistance request signal indicative of an assistance request event, the assistance request signal configured to initiate a communication connection between the vehicle and a third party;sending a signal to a display screen of the vehicle in dependence on receipt of the assistance request signal, wherein the signal causes the display screen to display a visual indicator, the visual indicator indicative of the initiation of the communication connection and the availability of transmitting a response to the third party by provision of a non-audio message input;receiving a non-audio message input indicative of a message to be provided to the third party in response to the display of the visual indicator; andtransmitting the message to the third party.15, Computer readable instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method according to 14.

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