Information processing apparatus

Abstract

To increase the degree of understanding by a user of information obtained from an area on a display device at which the user is gazing.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus includes: a setting unit configured to set a gaze area at which a user is gazing on a display device capable of displaying vehicle information related to a vehicle, based on a line of sight of the user with respect to the display device; and a control unit configured to increase an amount of information for the vehicle information displayed in the gaze area set by the setting unit, as compared with an amount of information before the gaze area is set.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent document 1 discloses a display operation device that, when there are two displays, properly realizes the functions of one display when the other display is selected by the user's visual recognition, and makes effective use of the other display when the other display is not selected. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-099891 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Incidentally, it is conceivable that the in-vehicle display could always display all the information the user needs, but if all the information is displayed all the time, the display content would become cumbersome and the user might not be able to understand the information they need each time.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present disclosure is to provide an information processing device that can enhance a user's understanding of information obtained from an area on a display device that the user is gazing at. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The information processing device of claim 1 includes a setting unit that sets a gaze area on a display device capable of displaying vehicle information related to a vehicle based on the user's line of sight toward the display device, and a control unit that increases the amount of information of the vehicle information displayed in the gaze area set by the setting unit compared to before the gaze area was set.

[0007] In the information processing device according to claim 1, the setting unit sets a gaze area based on the user's line of sight toward the display device. Then, the control unit increases the amount of vehicle information displayed in the gaze area set by the setting unit compared to before the gaze area was set. Thus, according to the information processing device, by increasing the amount of vehicle information displayed in the gaze area, the user's understanding of the vehicle information obtained from the gaze area can be improved. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] As described above, the information processing device according to the present disclosure can improve the user's understanding of information obtained from an area on the display device that the user is gazing at. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a vehicle. [Figure 2] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a specification process. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a display device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The vehicle 10 according to this embodiment will be described below. Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a vehicle 10. As shown in Fig. 1, the vehicle 10 includes a meter ECU 20. The meter ECU 20 is an example of an "information processing device."

[0011] The meter ECU 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 23, a storage 24, an in-vehicle communication I / F (Interface) 25, an input / output I / F 26, and a wireless communication I / F 27. The CPU 21, the ROM 22, the RAM 23, the storage 24, the in-vehicle communication I / F 25, the input / output I / F 26, and the wireless communication I / F 27 are connected to each other via an internal bus 28 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0012] The CPU 21 is a central processing unit that executes various programs and controls each part. That is, the CPU 21 reads programs from the ROM 22 or the storage 24 and executes the programs using the RAM 23 as a work area. The CPU 21 controls each of the above components and performs various arithmetic processing in accordance with the programs recorded in the ROM 22 or the storage 24.

[0013] The ROM 22 stores various programs and various data. The RAM 23 serves as a working area for temporarily storing programs or data.

[0014] The storage 24 is configured with a storage device such as an eMMC (embedded multi media card) or a UFS (universal flash storage), and stores various programs and various data. An information processing program 24A is stored in the storage 24. The information processing program 24A is a program for causing the CPU 21 to execute specific processing (see FIG. 2), which will be described later.

[0015] The in-vehicle communication I / F 25 is an interface for connecting to other ECUs 30. The interface uses a communication standard based on the CAN protocol. The in-vehicle communication I / F 25 is connected to an external bus 29. Although not shown, in addition to the ECU 30, multiple ECUs are provided for each function of the vehicle 10.

[0016] The input / output I / F 26 is an interface for communicating with an in-vehicle device 40 mounted on the vehicle 10 .

[0017] The on-vehicle devices 40 are various devices mounted on the vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 is equipped with a camera 42 and a display device 44 as examples of the on-vehicle devices 40.

[0018] The camera 42 includes, for example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor. The camera 42 is provided above the windshield or on the dashboard of the vehicle 10 and is directed toward the driver as a user. The camera 42 captures an image of an area including the driver's face. The image of the driver's face captured by the camera 42 is output to the meter ECU 20.

[0019] The display device 44 is provided on the meter panel and is a liquid crystal monitor for displaying operation suggestions related to the functions of the vehicle 10 and images related to explanations of the functions.

[0020] The wireless communication I / F 27 is a wireless communication module for communicating with external devices, and uses communication standards such as 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), and Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0021] The CPU 21 of the meter ECU 20 has, as functional components, an acquisition unit 21A, a setting unit 21B, and a control unit 21C. Each functional component is realized by the CPU 21 reading and executing an information processing program 24A stored in the storage 24.

[0022] The acquisition unit 21A acquires various types of information. For example, the acquisition unit 21A acquires image information indicating a facial image of the driver captured by the camera 42 as the various types of information.

[0023] The setting unit 21B sets a gaze area A (see FIG. 3(B)) on the display device 44 where the driver is gazing, based on the driver's line of sight toward the display device 44. The setting unit 21B detects the driver's line of sight and field of view by performing a known gaze detection process on the face image shown in the image information acquired by the acquisition unit 21A. Then, the setting unit 21B sets the gaze area A based on the detected line of sight and field of view of the driver.

[0024] The control unit 21C performs display control regarding the display of the display device 44. For example, as the display control, the control unit 21C increases the amount of vehicle information regarding the vehicle 10 that is displayed in the gaze area A set by the setting unit 21B compared to the amount before the gaze area A was set.

[0025] 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of the identification process executed by the meter ECU 20. The CPU 21 reads the information processing program 24A from the storage 24, loads it into the RAM 23, and executes it, thereby performing the identification process. As an example, the identification process is automatically and repeatedly performed at regular intervals.

[0026] 2, the CPU 21 acquires image information indicating a facial image of the driver captured by the camera 42. Here, the image information acquired by the CPU 21 includes a plurality of still images of an area including the driver's face captured successively by the camera 42, or a moving image of an area including the driver's face captured over a predetermined period of time by the camera 42. Then, the CPU 21 proceeds to step S11.

[0027] In step S11, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the gaze area A can be set based on the image information acquired in step S10. If the CPU 21 determines that the gaze area A can be set (step S11: YES), the process proceeds to step S12. On the other hand, if the CPU 21 determines that the gaze area A cannot be set (step S11: NO), the process ends. As an example, the CPU 21 determines that the gaze area A can be set when there is an area on the display device 44 where the driver's field of view is concentrated for a predetermined period of time or more.

[0028] In step S12, the CPU 21 increases the amount of vehicle information displayed in the gaze area A compared to before the setting of the gaze area A. Then, the CPU 21 ends the specification process.

[0029] Next, a specific example of a change in the amount of vehicle information displayed in gaze area A will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of display device 44. Specifically, Fig. 3(A) shows a display example of display device 44 before setting gaze area A, and Fig. 3(B) shows a display example of display device 44 after setting gaze area A.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 3(A), the display device 44 displays first numerical information 50, second numerical information 52, third numerical information 54, a first meter 56, and a second meter 58 as vehicle information.

[0031] The first numerical information 50 is, for example, information indicating the speed of the vehicle 10. In FIG. 3(A), only the numerical value "45" is displayed as the first numerical information 50.

[0032] The second numerical information 52 is, for example, information indicating the total distance traveled by the vehicle 10. In FIG. 3(A), only the numerical value "12561" is displayed as the second numerical information 52.

[0033] The third numerical information 54 is, for example, information indicating the outside air temperature of the vehicle 10. In FIG. 3(A), only the numerical value "15" is displayed as the third numerical information 54.

[0034] The first meter 56 is, for example, a speedometer that indicates the speed of the vehicle 10. The first meter 56 includes a needle 56A that indicates the current vehicle speed.

[0035] As an example, the second meter 58 is a tachometer that indicates the engine speed of the vehicle 10. The second meter 58 includes a needle 58A that indicates the current engine speed.

[0036] In this way, in the display device 44 shown in Figure 3(A), the display content of the first numerical information 50, the second numerical information 52, and the third numerical information 54 is limited to numerical values, thereby preventing the display content of the display device 44 from becoming too complicated and improving the visibility of the vehicle information for the driver.

[0037] In the display device 44 shown in Fig. 3(B), a gaze area A indicated by a dashed line is set in the lower left corner of the screen of the display device 44. The gaze area A is made up of a first area A1 indicating the driver's central field of vision and a second area A2 indicating the driver's peripheral field of vision. In the display device 44 shown in Fig. 3(B), the amount of vehicle information displayed in the lower left corner of the screen of the display device 44, which is the gaze area A, is increased compared to the display device 44 shown in Fig. 3(A).

[0038] 3(B), the second numerical information 52 is displayed as "ODO 12561 km." This allows the driver to understand from the characters "ODO" that the numerical value "12561" is the total distance traveled by the vehicle 10, and from the characters "km" that the unit of "12561" is kilometers.

[0039] 3(B), fourth numerical information 60 indicating the speed of the vehicle 10 is displayed where the needle 56A of the first meter 56 is pointing. In FIG. 3(B), "45 km / h" is displayed as the fourth numerical information 60. This allows the driver to understand from the fourth numerical information 60 that the vehicle speed is 45 km / h.

[0040] In this way, in the display device 44 shown in Figure 3 (B), the amount of information about the vehicle information displayed in the gaze area A, specifically, by adding text explaining the contents of the second numerical information 52 and the first meter 56, is increased.

[0041] As described above, in the meter ECU 20, the CPU 21 sets the gaze area A based on the driver's line of sight toward the display device 44. Then, the CPU 21 increases the amount of vehicle information displayed in the set gaze area A compared to before the gaze area A was set. In this way, the meter ECU 20 can increase the driver's understanding of the vehicle information obtained from the gaze area A by increasing the amount of vehicle information displayed in the gaze area A. Furthermore, the meter ECU 20 can prevent the display content of the display device 44 from becoming cluttered by reducing the amount of vehicle information displayed before the gaze area A or in an area other than the gaze area A compared to the vehicle information displayed in the gaze area A.

[0042] (others) In the above embodiment, the CPU 21 increases the amount of information about the vehicle information by adding text describing the content of the vehicle information displayed in the gaze area A, but the method for increasing the amount of information about the vehicle information is not limited to this. For example, the CPU 21 may increase the amount of information about the vehicle information by adding a text size attribute to the vehicle information and increasing the text size of the vehicle information based on the attribute compared to before the gaze area A was set. As another example, the CPU 21 may increase the amount of information about the vehicle information by adding a text color attribute to the vehicle information and increasing the contrast of the text color of the vehicle information against the background color based on the attribute compared to before the gaze area A was set.

[0043] In the above embodiment, the display device 44 is a meter display provided on the meter panel, but is not limited to this. For example, the display device 44 may be a multimedia display provided above the center console or a head-up display (HUD). When the display device 44 is a display other than the meter display, an example of an information processing device is an ECU that controls the other display.

[0044] In the above embodiment, the CPU 21 may change the amount of vehicle information to be increased between the first area A1 and the second area A2 in the gaze area A compared to before the gaze area A was set. For example, the CPU 21 may increase the amount of information to be displayed in the first area A1 more than the amount of information to be displayed in the second area A2. Conversely, the CPU 21 may increase the amount of information to be displayed in the second area A2 more than the amount of information to be displayed in the first area A1. For example, increasing the amount of information here means adding only the attribute of text color to the vehicle information displayed in one area and adding two types of attributes, text color and text size, to the vehicle information displayed in the other area.

[0045] In the above embodiment, the specific process executed by the CPU 21 after reading the software (program) may be executed by various processors other than a CPU. Examples of such processors include programmable logic devices (PLDs) (such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)) whose circuit configuration can be changed after fabrication, and dedicated electrical circuits such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that are processors with circuit configurations specifically designed to execute specific processes. The specific process may be executed by one of these processors, or by a combination of two or more processors of the same or different types (e.g., multiple FPGAs, or a combination of a CPU and an FPGA). The hardware structure of these processors is, more specifically, an electrical circuit that combines circuit elements such as semiconductor devices.

[0046] In the above embodiment, the information processing program 24A is pre-stored (installed) in the storage 24, but the present invention is not limited to this. The information processing program 24A may be provided in a form recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk Read Only Memory), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. The information processing program 24A may also be downloaded from an external device via a network. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 10 vehicles 20 Meter ECU (information processing unit) 21B Setting section 21C Control Unit 44 Display device

Claims

[Claim 1] a setting unit that sets a gaze area that the user is gazing at on a display device that can display vehicle information related to the vehicle, based on the user's line of sight to the display device; a control unit that increases an amount of the vehicle information displayed in the gaze area set by the setting unit compared to an amount before the gaze area was set; An information processing device comprising:

Images