Questionnaire apparatus

Abstract

To improve the accuracy of a questionnaire collected from a user who drove a test-drive vehicle.SOLUTION: A questionnaire apparatus which can be disposed in a test-drive vehicle includes an input unit to which voice can be input, an output unit which can output voice, and a control unit. The control unit outputs, while a user is driving the test-drive vehicle, voice for a questionnaire to a user via the output unit at a predetermined timing, and executes processing to receive answers of the user to the questionnaire via the input unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a questionnaire device. [Background technology]

[0002] A system has been proposed in which a test drive vehicle is loaned to a user and a questionnaire is sent to the user's terminal after the test drive vehicle has been used (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Such a system aims to collect the questionnaire and effectively carry out development that meets market needs. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-277583 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, if time passes between the end of the test drive and the time the questionnaire is answered, the user may forget the impression they had during the test drive of the test vehicle, and therefore the questionnaire may not accurately capture the user's impression of the test drive vehicle.

[0005] The purpose of the present disclosure, made in consideration of such circumstances, is to improve the accuracy of questionnaires collected from users who test drive test vehicles. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The questionnaire device of the present disclosure is a questionnaire device that can be installed in a test drive vehicle and includes an input unit capable of voice input, an output unit capable of voice output, and a control unit. The control unit executes a process of outputting a voice questionnaire to the user via the output unit at a predetermined timing while the user is test driving the test drive vehicle, and receiving the user's answers to the questionnaire via the input unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the accuracy of questionnaires collected from users who test drive test vehicles. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a questionnaire system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functions realized by a control unit in FIG. 1. [Figure 3] 2 is a diagram showing the correspondence between sensor information, questionnaire questions, and presentation timings stored in a storage unit in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing the procedure for executing a questionnaire by the control unit of FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] As shown in FIG. 1 , a questionnaire device 11 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is disposed in a test drive vehicle 10 prepared for a user to take a test drive. The questionnaire device 11 presents questionnaire questions to the user by voice depending on the situation while the user is test driving the test drive vehicle 10, and receives verbal responses from the user. The questionnaire device 11 can be disposed in any location of the test drive vehicle 10, including inside the dashboard, on the ceiling of the passenger compartment, or in the luggage compartment. The questionnaire device 11 includes an input unit 12, an output unit 13, a memory unit 14, a control unit 15, a display unit 16, and a communication unit 17.

[0011] The input unit 12 is a component for inputting information to the questionnaire device 11, and includes a microphone that converts voices within the vehicle cabin into audio signals. The microphone may be connected to the questionnaire device 11 as an external device. One or more microphones may be arranged. The microphones may be arranged in various locations within the vehicle cabin. For example, the microphones may be arranged on the dashboard, the ceiling of the vehicle cabin, the steering column, the inside of the front doors, etc.

[0012] The output unit 13 is a component for outputting information from the questionnaire device 11, and includes a speaker. The information from the questionnaire device 11 includes questionnaire questions. The output unit 13 converts audio signals generated by the control unit 15 into physical vibrations to generate sound in space. The speaker may be connected to the questionnaire device 11 as an external device to the questionnaire device 11. An audio speaker installed in the test vehicle 10 can be used as the speaker. The speaker can be placed in the door, dashboard, pillar, etc. of the test vehicle 10. A well-known general speaker can be used as the speaker.

[0013] The storage unit 14 may be configured to include at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or a combination of at least two of these. The semiconductor memory may be, for example, a random access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM). The RAM may be, for example, a static random access memory (SRAM) or a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The ROM may be, for example, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). The storage unit 14 may function as a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 14 stores data used in the operation of the questionnaire device 11, data obtained by the operation of the questionnaire device 11, programs for operating the questionnaire device 11, etc.

[0014] The control unit 15 may be configured to include at least one processor, at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination of these. The processor may be a general-purpose processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The dedicated circuit may be, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The control unit 15 may execute processes related to the operation of the questionnaire device 11 while controlling each part of the questionnaire device 11.

[0015] The display unit 16 is a display device that can display any information. The display unit 16 may be any of various displays, such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, an inorganic EL display, a plasma display (PDP: Plasma Display Panel), or a field emission display (FED: Field Emission Display). The display unit 16 may be provided in the questionnaire device 11, or may be connected to the questionnaire device 11 as a display device shared with other devices.

[0016] The communication unit 17 may be configured to include at least one communication module capable of communicating with an external server 30. For example, the communication module is a module compatible with mobile communication standards such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation), and / or 5G (5th Generation). The questionnaire device 11 may transmit the results of a questionnaire to users to the server 30 via the communication unit 17.

[0017] The server 30 is an information processing device, i.e., a computer, capable of communicating with the questionnaire device 11. The server 30 can collect survey result information indicating the survey results from the questionnaire devices 11 installed in multiple test drive vehicles 10. The server 30 may be, for example, a cloud server installed in the cloud. The questionnaire device 11 may communicate with the server 30 via a communication network such as the Internet. The server 30 can acquire multiple pieces of survey result information and aggregate the survey results. The server 30 is not required. Aggregation of the survey results may be performed by a local server or information processing device of the business operator that provides the test drive vehicles 10.

[0018] The control unit 15 outputs a questionnaire to the user using the output unit 13 at a predetermined timing while the user is test driving the test vehicle 10. The control unit 15 executes a process of receiving the user's response to the questionnaire via the input unit 12.

[0019] The control unit 15 acquires information detected by the sensors 20 provided in the test drive vehicle 10 and determines the predetermined timing based on the detected information. Hereinafter, the information detected by the sensors 20 may be referred to as sensor information. The control unit 15 selects a survey question to be output to the user from among a plurality of survey questions in accordance with the sensor information. The control unit 15 acquires the information from the sensors 20 directly or via each ECU 21 (Electronic Control Unit).

[0020] The sensors 20 equipped in the test drive vehicle 10 include various sensors. For example, the sensors 20 include an ignition sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, an accelerator sensor, a brake sensor, a parking brake detection sensor, a shift position detection sensor, a turn signal detection sensor, a wiper detection sensor, and a light detection sensor. The ignition sensor detects whether the ignition is on or off. The vehicle speed sensor detects the speed of the test drive vehicle 10. The accelerator sensor detects the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal. The brake sensor detects the amount of depression or force of the brake pedal. The parking brake detection sensor detects whether the parking brake is applied. The shift position detection sensor detects the position of the shift lever. The turn signal detection sensor detects the flashing of the turn signal and the direction of flashing. The wiper detection sensor detects the operating status of the wipers. The light detection sensor detects the lighting status of lamps such as headlights. The above-mentioned sensors are merely examples, and the test drive vehicle 10 may be equipped with many more sensors 20. In this application, the multiple sensors are collectively referred to as sensors 20.

[0021] The ECU 21 is an electronic control device that controls each piece of equipment in the test drive vehicle 10. The control unit 15 of the questionnaire device 11 can acquire information from each sensor 20 as a signal from the ECU 21. The equipment in the test drive vehicle 10 includes an engine in the case of a gasoline-powered vehicle, and a motor, brakes, transmission, headlights, mirrors, power windows, air conditioning, car audio, etc. in the case of an electric vehicle. The test drive vehicle 10 includes individual ECUs 21 for each piece of equipment. The ECUs 21 installed in the test drive vehicle 10 are not limited to these, and may include multiple ECUs 21. In this application, multiple ECUs 21 will be collectively referred to as ECU 21.

[0022] Next, the functions realized by the control unit 15 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 15 includes an initial setting unit 151, a questionnaire management unit 152, a sensor information acquisition unit 153, a question selection unit 154, a timing setting unit 155, a voice synthesis unit 156, a display control unit 157, a voice recognition unit 158, and an answer recording unit 159. Each component of the control unit 15 shown in FIG. 2 may be a hardware module or a software module. The control unit 15 can execute all the processes executed by each component described below. The processes executed by each component can be rephrased as processes executed by the control unit 15.

[0023] The initial setting unit 151 can receive initial settings from the user of the questionnaire device 11 via the input unit 12. The initial setting includes the selection of a voice to be used when asking the user questions in the questionnaire. For example, the initial setting unit 151 can cause the display unit 16 to display a screen for selecting a voice before the user gets into the test vehicle 10 and starts driving. The selected voice may include a male voice, a female voice, or the voice of a pre-registered character. A "character" includes a real or imaginary person, or a non-human living or inanimate object that is at least partially personified. Anthropomorphism includes speaking human language. A character typically includes an animated character broadcast on television or the like.

[0024] The questionnaire management unit 152 manages the presentation of multiple questions included in the questionnaire and the acquisition status of answers. The questionnaire management unit 152 distinguishes between questions that have been asked and questions that have not been asked. The questionnaire management unit 152 adjusts the content of the questions so that answers to all or more of the questions are obtained during the user's test drive of the test vehicle 10.

[0025] The sensor information acquisition unit 153 acquires various types of sensor information directly from the sensors 20 or via the ECU 21 .

[0026] The question selection unit 154 selects questions for the questionnaire based on the acquired sensor information. The question selection unit 154 cooperates with the questionnaire management unit 152 to select questions to be presented to the user from among questions that have not yet been asked. The question selection unit 154 selects questions according to the user's driving situation recognized from the sensor information. For example, when information indicating that the test drive vehicle 10 is accelerating is acquired from an acceleration sensor or an accelerator sensor, the question selection unit 154 may select questions such as "How does the acceleration feel?" or "How are the sounds and vibrations during acceleration?" from among multiple questions.

[0027] The timing setting unit 155 determines the timing for presenting a question to the user based on the sensor information detected by the sensor 20. The timing for presenting the question may be determined as a predetermined timing for each piece of sensor information detected by the sensor 20. For example, if sensor information indicating that the test drive vehicle 10 is accelerating is obtained from the sensor 20, the timing setting unit 155 presents the question at a timing that is preset as an appropriate timing for asking the user about their impressions of the acceleration of the test drive vehicle 10.

[0028] Combinations of questionnaire questions corresponding to information acquired from the sensor 20 and timings for presenting the questions may be stored in advance in the memory unit 14 in the form of a table, such as that shown in FIG. 3. When the control unit 15 acquires sensor information from the sensor 20, it may read the table from the memory unit 14 and determine the questions to be presented to the user and the timing for presenting the questions. In the example of FIG. 3, when the control unit 15 acquires information from the accelerator pedal sensor and recognizes that the test drive vehicle 10 is accelerating, it presents the question "How does the acceleration feel?" 10 seconds after acquiring the sensor information. Furthermore, when the control unit 15 acquires information from the shift position detection sensor and recognizes that the shift position is in reverse gear and the user is parking, it presents the question "Is the backup monitor easy to see?" the next time the shift position is in park.

[0029] The voice synthesis unit 156 synthesizes the text question selected by the question selection unit 154 into voice at the timing set by the timing setting unit 155, and presents the voice to the user from the output unit 13. The voice synthesis unit 156 may synthesize the voice of the question using a voice of the gender set by the initial setting unit 151 or a voice imitating the voice of the character. The voice synthesis technology may be any known technology such as waveform concatenation type voice synthesis, statistical model type voice synthesis, or voice synthesis AI technology using machine learning.

[0030] The display control unit 157 generates and displays an image to be displayed on the display unit 16 in accordance with the audio question presented by the audio synthesis unit 156. If the user has selected a character in the initial setting unit 151, the display control unit 157 may display an image of the character on the display unit 16. In this way, the entertainment value of the questionnaire for the user can be increased.

[0031] The speech recognition unit 158 ​​recognizes the content of the user's speech converted into a speech signal input from the input unit 12. The result of the speech recognition is output, for example, as text. Alternatively, the result of the speech recognition may be output as a code indicating one of a plurality of options. Various known techniques can be employed for the speech recognition process, such as techniques based on acoustic models and AI deep learning techniques based on machine learning.

[0032] The answer recording unit 159 associates the questionnaire questions with the user's answer results recognized by the voice recognition unit 158 ​​and stores them in the storage unit 14. The answer recording unit 159 further associates information on the timing at which each questionnaire question was presented with the user's answer results and records the information in the storage unit 14. The user's answer results may include information such as whether there was no answer from the user or the time it took to obtain the user's answer. This information may be transmitted from the questionnaire device 11 to the server 30 after the user's questionnaire is completed. Based on the questionnaire result information acquired from the questionnaire device 11, the server 30 evaluates the appropriateness of the timing at which the questionnaire questions are presented in relation to the sensor information. Based on the evaluation result information, the server 30 can change the timing at which the questions are presented to make it easier to obtain answers from the user.

[0033] The procedure for executing a survey by the control unit 25 of the survey device 11 will be described below with reference to FIG. 4. The procedure for executing a survey shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4 can be executed according to a program. Such a program can be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include, but are not limited to, a hard disk, RAM, ROM, flash memory, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, etc.

[0034] First, the user gets into the test vehicle 10 and performs initial setup of the questionnaire before starting to drive (S101). The initial setup includes selecting the audio and images for the questionnaire. The initial setup may include selecting and setting the user's preferred character from a plurality of characters prepared in advance. In the following, it is assumed that the user has selected a character.

[0035] Next, when the driving operation of the test vehicle 10 is started, the control unit 15 waits for sensor information related to the questionnaire question items (S102). If no sensor information has been acquired (S102: No), the control unit 15 waits until sensor information has been acquired. If sensor information has been acquired (S102: Yes), the control unit 15 proceeds to the process of S103.

[0036] In S103, the control unit 15 selects a question associated with the sensor information from among a plurality of questions in the questionnaire based on the acquired sensor information. Information regarding what question to present when what sensor information is acquired may be stored in advance in the storage unit 14.

[0037] The control unit 15 determines the timing to present the question to the user according to the question selected in S103 (S104). As the timing, a predetermined timing previously stored in the storage unit 14 may be used. The timing may be determined by various methods, such as the elapsed time after receiving the sensor information, or the timing of receiving further sensor information after receiving the sensor information. As the predetermined timing, an appropriate timing is set according to the driving situation of the user estimated from the sensor information.

[0038] The control unit 15 synthesizes the question into a voice that imitates the voice of the character registered in S101 (S105). When synthesizing the voice using the character's voice, the control unit 15 may modify the text information of the question using a dialect and phrases unique to the character. This allows the spoken question to be closer to the one spoken by the character.

[0039] The control unit 15 outputs the synthesized voice to the user using the output unit 13 at the timing set in S104 (S106).

[0040] Simultaneously with S106, the control unit 15 may generate an image of the character selected by the user and display the image of the character in sync with the character's voice on the display unit 16. For driving safety reasons, the display unit 16 may display the image of the character only when the test drive vehicle 10 is stopped.

[0041] After outputting a question to the user in S106, the control unit 15 receives a voice response from the user from the input unit 12 (S107). The control unit 15 may be set to wait for a predetermined time for the user's response. If the user does not respond within the predetermined time, the control unit 15 may determine that the user has not responded to the question.

[0042] The control unit 15 executes a voice recognition process on the voice signal of the user's answer acquired from the input unit 12 (S108). The user's answer may be in the form of a free answer, or may be selected from a plurality of options.

[0043] The control unit 15 stores the user's answer to the question in the storage unit 14 together with timing information of the question (S109).

[0044] As long as the test drive of the test drive vehicle 10 continues (S110: No), the control unit 15 returns to S102 and repeats the processes of S102 to S109. This allows the questionnaire device 11 to present the questions included in the questionnaire to the user in an appropriate driving situation. The questionnaire device 11 asks the user all or as many of the multiple questions in the questionnaire as possible during the user's test drive.

[0045] When the user finishes the test drive of the test vehicle 10 (S110: Yes), the control unit 15 ends the survey. The control unit 15 may transmit the user's answers to each question stored in the memory unit 14 and timing information of the questions to the server 30 as survey result information.

[0046] As described above, according to this embodiment, the questionnaire device 11 outputs a questionnaire to the user by voice while the user is test driving the test vehicle 10, and receives responses from the user by voice. This allows the user to respond to the questionnaire based on their impression of the test vehicle 10 during the test drive. Therefore, by using the questionnaire device 11, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the questionnaire collected from users who have test driven the test vehicle 10.

[0047] Furthermore, the questionnaire device 11 of the present disclosure presents questions to the user at a predetermined timing according to the user's situation based on sensor information from the sensor 20 provided in the test drive vehicle 10. This makes it possible to further improve the accuracy of questionnaires collected from users and increase the response rate.

[0048] Furthermore, the questionnaire device 11 of the present disclosure can associate and store the user's answers to questionnaire questions with the predetermined timing for presenting the questions, and transmit them to the server 30 after the questionnaire is completed. This allows the server 30 to analyze the correlation between the timing for presenting the questionnaire questions and the user's response rate. The server 30 can also determine the timing for improving the response rate to the questionnaire and reflect this in the settings of the questionnaire device 11. This allows the questionnaire device 11 to further improve the response rate to questionnaires collected from users.

[0049] Furthermore, the questionnaire device 11 of the present disclosure allows a user to register a favorite character, and can present questions to the user using the character's voice and display an image of the character on the display unit 16. This allows the questionnaire device 11 to provide a more entertaining experience to the user when conducting a questionnaire for the user.

[0050] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and many variations and modifications are possible. For example, the functions included in each means, step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to cause logical contradictions, and multiple means or steps can be combined into one or divided. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 10 Test Drive Vehicles 11 Questionnaire device 12 Input section 13 Output section 14 Storage section 15 Control Unit 16 Display 17 Communications Department 20 sensors 21 ECU 30 servers 151 Initial setting section 152 Survey Management Department 153 Sensor information acquisition unit 154 Question Selection Section 155 Timing setting section 156 Speech synthesis unit 157 Display control unit 158 Voice Recognition Unit 159 Response Recording Section

Claims

1. A questionnaire device that can be placed in a test drive vehicle, an input unit capable of voice input; an output unit capable of outputting audio; a control unit that executes a process of outputting a questionnaire to the user by voice via the output unit at a predetermined timing while the user is test driving the test vehicle, and receiving the user's response to the questionnaire via the input unit; A questionnaire device comprising:

2. The survey device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit acquires information detected by a sensor equipped in the test drive vehicle, determines the predetermined timing based on the detected information, and selects the survey questions to be output to the user based on the information detected by the sensor.

3. The questionnaire device according to claim 1 , further comprising a storage unit, wherein the control unit stores the predetermined timing in the storage unit in association with the user's response to the questionnaire.

4. The questionnaire device according to claim 1 , wherein the output unit synthesizes and outputs a voice that imitates a voice of a pre-registered character.

5. The questionnaire device according to claim 4, further comprising a display, wherein an image of said character is displayed on said display in accordance with said voice of said character.

Images