Motion sickness suppressing device

Abstract

To provide a motion sickness suppressing device which determines whether an occupant is in the motion sickness state or not, and further has such a function that a body condition of the occupant is improved when it is determined that the occupant is in the motion sickness state.SOLUTION: A motion sickness suppressing device includes a sickness state detection part 16 which receives information of a face of an occupant 24 and its circumferential region from a sensor 14, and detects the state concerning a motion sickness, a sickness state decision part 18 which decides whether the occupant 24 is in the motion sickness state or not, based on a detection result on the sickness state detection part 16, an estimation part 20 which estimates at least one side position of the face and head of the occupant 24, and an air blowing part 22 which blows wind toward at least one side of the face and the head of the occupant 24, based on the position estimated by the estimation part 20 in such a case that the occupant 24 is in the motion sickness state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a motion sickness prevention device. [Background technology]

[0002] Passengers in a moving vehicle may experience motion sickness. One theory is that motion sickness is caused by a conflict in perceptual information between the sensory organs, for example, when gazing at a game terminal while in a moving vehicle. In this case, the number of passengers who spend time looking at game terminals, smartphones, in-car monitors, etc. while in a moving vehicle has been increasing, particularly in recent years, making it easier for motion sickness to occur. Therefore, there is a demand for technology that can detect, suppress, and eliminate the symptoms of motion sickness.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a control device that determines whether or not a passenger of a moving body has recovered from motion sickness. This control device determines whether or not the passenger has recovered from motion sickness based on the ultra-low frequency components of the passenger's heart rate, making it possible to make an accurate determination. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-188678 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Incidentally, there are systems and methods that use a sensor to detect the biological information of an occupant and determine whether or not the occupant is in a state of motion sickness based on the detection result. The sensor used in this case is fixed to the moving body itself (e.g., a seat) in which the occupant is riding, or is provided in a wearable device worn by the occupant. However, depending on the type of sensor, the biological information of the occupant may not be obtained accurately due to noise caused by disturbances such as the shaking of the moving body and a change in the relative position between the moving body and the occupant due to a change in the posture of the occupant himself. In addition, when the sensor is provided in a wearable device or when the sensor itself is worn by the occupant, the occupant may feel bothered by installing or wearing the sensor.

[0006] Furthermore, as a device for motion sickness, it would be even better if it had the functionality not only to detect the symptoms, but also to improve the physical condition of an occupant (specifically, to suppress or eliminate the motion sickness) if it is determined that the occupant is suffering from motion sickness.

[0007] Therefore, in this specification, a motion sickness suppression device is realized that uses a non-contact sensor that is less likely to generate noise due to external disturbances to determine whether or not an occupant is suffering from motion sickness, and further has the function of improving the physical condition of the occupant if it is determined that the occupant is suffering from motion sickness. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The motion sickness prevention device disclosed in this specification includes a sickness state detection unit that receives information about the occupant's face and its surroundings from a sensor and detects a state related to motion sickness, a sickness state determination unit that determines whether the occupant is in a state of motion sickness based on the detection result by the sickness state detection unit, an estimation unit that estimates the position of at least one of the occupant's face and head, and a blower unit that blows air toward at least one of the occupant's face and head based on the position estimated by the estimation unit when the occupant is in a state of motion sickness. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the motion sickness suppression device disclosed in this specification, the sensor acquires information on the occupant's face and its surroundings as the occupant's biometric information, so information can be obtained as long as the sensor captures the face. In other words, the sensor is not easily affected by changes in the position of the occupant's face in the moving body, so noise due to disturbances is unlikely to occur. In addition, the sensor does not need to be of a contact type, so the inconvenience of installing and wearing the sensor can be avoided. In addition, if the occupant is in a state of motion sickness, a stimulus can be given to improve the occupant's state of sickness by blowing wind toward at least one of the occupant's face and head. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a motion sickness prevention device. [Diagram 2] 1 is a diagram showing a schematic overview of a motion sickness prevention device; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] The motion sickness prevention device will be described below with reference to the drawings. In Fig. 2, "Fr", "Up", and "Rh" respectively indicate the front, upper, and right side of the vehicle.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a motion sickness suppression device. The motion sickness suppression device 10 according to the embodiment includes a control unit 12. The motion sickness suppression device 10 detects and suppresses symptoms related to motion sickness based on information acquired by various sensors 14 under the control of the control unit 12. The control unit 12 is an electronic control unit having at least a CPU for performing various arithmetic processing and a memory in which control programs and data are stored. The various sensors 14 are devices for detecting specific physical quantities and their changes in order to obtain biological information of an occupant (hereinafter simply referred to as an "occupant") who is the subject of judgment as to whether or not the occupant is in a motion sickness state. Examples of the sensors 14 include a vital sensor for measuring the body temperature of the occupant, a temperature and humidity sensor for measuring the temperature and humidity around the occupant, and a thermograph for measuring the surface temperature distribution of the occupant using an infrared sensor. Another example of the sensor 14 is an expression camera used to photograph and diagnose the facial expression of the occupant.

[0013] As shown in FIG. 1, the motion sickness suppression device 10 further includes a sickness state detection unit 16, a sickness state determination unit 18, an estimation unit 20, and a blower unit 22. The sickness state detection unit 16 receives information on the face of the occupant and its surroundings from various sensors 14 to detect a state related to motion sickness. The sickness state determination unit 18 determines whether the occupant is in a motion sickness state based on the detection result by the sickness state detection unit 16. The estimation unit 20 estimates the position of at least one of the occupant's face and head. When the occupant is in a motion sickness state, the blower unit 22 blows air toward the occupant's face, etc., based on the position of the occupant's face, etc., estimated by the estimation unit 20. The above-mentioned functions of the motion sickness suppression device 10 will be further described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0014] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic overview of the motion sickness suppression device. Fig. 2 shows a state in which an occupant 24 is sitting in a rear seat 26 in a vehicle interior of a moving body, for example, a vehicle. More specifically, Fig. 2 shows a state in which the state of the occupant 24 sitting in the rear seat 26 is detected by a sensor 14a installed in the front seat 26, and further, air is sent from a ventilation system 22a installed in the front seat 26 to the occupant 24. In this example, the occupant 24, who is the subject of the judgment of whether or not he / she is in a motion sickness state, is a occupant sitting in a rear seat, but is not limited thereto.

[0015] The motion sickness suppression device disclosed in this specification will be further described with reference to FIG. 2. The motion sickness suppression device 10 controls the control unit 12 to transmit information on the face of the occupant 24 and its surroundings obtained by the sensor 14a to the sickness state detection unit 16. In this example, the sensor 14a is a facial expression camera that captures the face of the occupant 24 and holds facial expression information. Alternatively, the sensor 14a may be a temperature and humidity sensor that holds information on temperature changes and humidity changes around the face of the occupant 24. In any of the above cases, as shown in FIG. 2, the sensor 14a is a non-contact sensor installed on the front seat 26. Therefore, the sensor 14a does not need to be installed in a wearable device worn by the occupant 24, and the sensor 14a itself does not need to be worn by the occupant 24. The sickness state detection unit 16 that receives information from the sensor 14a detects a state related to motion sickness. In general, symptoms of motion sickness include yawning, dizziness, headache, vomiting, and the like. Therefore, if the sensor 14a is a facial expression camera, the sickness state detection unit 16 detects changes in facial expressions that lead to the above-mentioned symptoms as a condition related to motion sickness from the information of the facial expression camera. Also, if the sensor 14a is a temperature and humidity sensor, the sickness state detection unit 16 detects changes in temperature and humidity around the face of the occupant 24 due to cold sweat, etc. from the information of the temperature and humidity sensor.

[0016] Next, the control unit 12 transmits the detection result of the sickness state detection unit 16 to the sickness state determination unit 18. The sickness state determination unit 18 determines whether or not the occupant 24 is in a state of motion sickness based on the received detection result. The method of determining whether or not the occupant 24 is in a state of motion sickness is not particularly limited, and the sickness state determination unit 18 makes a determination according to predetermined determination conditions and thresholds.

[0017] The control unit 12 also transmits the information obtained by the sensor 14a to the estimation unit 20 in the same manner. From the information obtained by the sensor 14a (for example, the distribution of the surface temperature of the face of the occupant 24 obtained from a temperature and humidity sensor, and an image of the face of the occupant 24 obtained from an expression camera), the contour of the face of the occupant 24, the position of the eyes, the distance between the eyeballs, the vertical axis and the horizontal axis of the face, and the like can be detected. Therefore, the estimation unit 20 estimates the position of at least one of the face and head of the occupant 24 based on the information from the sensor 14a. Note that the position and orientation of the face and head of the occupant 24 after a certain time has passed will be different from the position and orientation detected by the sensor 14a. Therefore, the control unit 12 may control the estimation unit 20 to accurately estimate the position of the face of the occupant 24, etc., by sequentially acquiring necessary information from the sensor 14a and passing it to the estimation unit 20.

[0018] Next, when it is determined that the occupant 24 is in a state of motion sickness, the control unit 12 blows air from the blowing unit 22 toward at least one of the face and head of the occupant 24 estimated by the estimation unit 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the blowing unit 22 includes a blowing system 22a. As described above, the blowing system 22a is installed on the back of the front seat 26, and blows air (for example, cool air) toward the occupant 24. In this example, the position and direction of the air blown from the blowing system 22a are adjusted by the control of the control unit 12 so that the air hits the face of the occupant 24. Note that, in FIG. 2, the blowing system 22a is shown as being capable of rotating at its lower end in the vertical direction with its upper end as a fulcrum, but various known methods can be adopted for controlling the change in the air blowing direction. For example, the blowing system 22a may be made rotatable up, down, left and right based on multiple axes, or a wind direction control blade may be provided on the front side of the blowing system 22a, and the blowing direction may be controlled by driving the control blade. The blowing strength may be changed by controlling the blowing fan. Furthermore, the temperature of the blown air may be controlled by blowing conditioned air (e.g., cold air) from an air conditioner.

[0019] As described above, in the motion sickness suppression device disclosed in this specification, the sensor used to determine whether or not the occupant is in a state of motion sickness is a non-contact sensor that obtains information on the occupant's face and its surroundings, so noise due to disturbances such as vehicle vibration is unlikely to occur. In addition, since it is a non-contact sensor, the hassle of installation and wearing can be avoided. Furthermore, the position of the occupant's face, etc. can be estimated based on the information obtained by the sensor, and wind can be blown toward the estimated position, so that the occupant's state of motion sickness can be suppressed or eliminated.

[0020] The above description is merely an example, and the motion sickness suppression device disclosed in this specification may be configured to determine the sickness state based on the information of the face of the occupant and its surroundings, and to blow air toward at least one of the face and head of the occupant estimated by the estimation unit when the occupant is in a motion sickness state. Therefore, other configurations may be changed as appropriate. For example, in this example, cool air is blown toward the face of the occupant to improve the sickness symptoms, but this is not limited to this. As a stimulus to improve the sickness state, for example, a scent that is said to be effective in improving motion sickness may be given toward the face of the occupant, or light may be emitted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0021] 10 Motion sickness suppression device, 12 Control unit, 14 Various sensors, 16 Motion sickness detection unit, 18 Motion sickness state determination unit, 20 Estimation unit, 22 Air blowing unit, 24 Occupant, 26 Seat.

Claims

[Claim 1] a sickness state detection unit that receives information on the face of a passenger and its surroundings from a sensor and detects a state related to motion sickness; a sickness state determination unit that determines whether the occupant is in a motion sickness state based on a detection result by the sickness state detection unit; an estimation unit that estimates a position of at least one of a face and a head of the occupant; a blower that blows air toward at least one of a face and a head of the occupant based on the position estimated by the estimation unit when the occupant is in a motion sickness state; A motion sickness prevention device comprising:

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