Information provision system, information provision method, and program

Abstract

This system provides information delivery to users on board a mobile vehicle using an agent-based HMI (Human-Machine Interface), minimizing any sense of unease or discomfort for the user. [Solution] The information provision system 1 comprises a user state recognition unit 11 that recognizes the state of a user riding in a mobile vehicle, a user emotion estimation unit 12 that estimates the user's emotions based on the recognition result of the user state, a user emotion change degree recognition unit 13 that recognizes the degree of change in the user's emotions, and an agent control unit 14 that provides the user with an HMI (Human Machine Interface) that uses an anthropomorphic agent to output information in an output manner corresponding to the agent's emotions, and changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the user emotion change degree.

Description

Technical Field

[0003]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information providing system, an information providing method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, technology has been spreading to mount anthropomorphic agents that communicate with users on the HMI (Human Machine Interface) of information providing devices used in moving objects such as vehicles. For example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose technologies for estimating the emotions of users riding in a moving object and changing the emotions of an agent based on the emotions of the users.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, in human-to-human communication, an evaluation is made as to whether the other person is likely to get angry, taking into account the range of fluctuations in the emotions of the other person. Also, it is considered that for an HMI and its user, the user evaluates the usability of the HMI by the same process as in the case of humans. Therefore, the mode of change in the emotional expression of the agent mounted on the HMI greatly affects the impression that the user has of the HMI, and depending on the mode of change in the emotions of the agent, there is a risk of giving the user a sense of discomfort. Therefore, the objective of this invention is to provide an information provision system that minimizes discomfort for users when providing information to passengers on board a moving vehicle using an agent-based HMI. This will ultimately contribute to further improving traffic safety and the development of a sustainable transportation system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] As a first embodiment for achieving the above objective, an information provision system can be provided which includes: a user state recognition unit that recognizes the state of a user riding in a mobile vehicle; a user emotion estimation unit that estimates the user's emotions based on the recognition result of the user state recognition unit; a user emotion change degree recognition unit that recognizes the degree of change in the user's emotions estimated by the user emotion estimation unit; and an agent control unit that provides the user with an HMI (Human Machine Interface) that uses an agent having anthropomorphic emotions to output information in an output manner corresponding to the agent's emotions, and changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the user emotion change degree.

[0006] In the above-described information provision system, the agent control unit may set a base emotion for the agent's emotion based on the user's emotion estimated by the user emotion estimation unit within a predetermined period from the time the user boards the mobile vehicle, and change the agent's emotion based on the base emotion and the degree of change in the user's emotion.

[0007] In the above-described information provision system, the agent control unit may be configured to set the upper limit of the degree of emotional change to be less than or equal to the degree of user emotional change.

[0008] In the above-described information provision system, the user emotion estimation unit may use emotion valence as an estimation element for the user's emotion, and the agent control unit may use emotion valence as a control element for the agent's emotion.

[0009] In the above-described information provision system, the user emotion estimation unit may use arousal level as an estimation element for the user's emotions, and the agent control unit may use arousal level as a control element for the agent's emotions.

[0010] In the above-described information provision system, the system may include a risk level recognition unit that recognizes the degree of risk faced by the moving object, and the agent control unit may be configured to change the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed the upper limit of the degree of emotion change when the degree of risk is below a predetermined level, and to change the agent's emotions beyond the upper limit of the degree of emotion change when the degree of risk exceeds the predetermined level.

[0011] As a second embodiment for achieving the above objective, an information provision method is provided which includes: a user state recognition step in which a computer recognizes the state of a user riding in a mobile vehicle; a user emotion estimation step in which a computer estimates the user's emotions based on the results of the recognition of the user's state by the user state recognition step; a user emotion change degree recognition step in which a user emotion change degree, which is the degree of change in the user's emotions estimated by the user emotion estimation step, is provided to the user, and an agent control step in which an agent having anthropomorphic emotions is used to provide an HMI (Human Machine Interface) that outputs information in an output manner corresponding to the emotions of the agent, and the agent's emotions are changed within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the user emotion change degree.

[0012] As a third embodiment for achieving the above objective, a program is provided that causes the computer to function as: a user state recognition unit that recognizes the state of a user riding in a mobile vehicle; a user emotion estimation unit that estimates the user's emotions based on the recognition result of the user state recognition unit; a user emotion change degree recognition unit that recognizes the degree of change in the user's emotions estimated by the user emotion estimation unit; and an agent control unit that provides the user with an HMI (Human Machine Interface) that uses an anthropomorphic agent to output information in an output manner corresponding to the agent's emotions, and changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the user emotion change degree. [Effects of the Invention]

[0013] According to the above information provision system, information provision method, and program, it is possible to suppress the possibility of causing discomfort to users when providing information to users on board a mobile vehicle using an agent-based HMI. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0014] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram of how the information provision system is used. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision system. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is an explanatory diagram of the emotion map based on emotional valence and arousal level. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the degree of change in user emotions and the control mechanism that limits the agent's emotional changes in response to that degree of change. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a flowchart of the agent's emotion control process. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0015] [1. Usage patterns of the information provision system] Referring to FIG. 1, the usage mode of the information providing system 1 of the present embodiment will be described. The information providing system 1 provides a Human Machine Interface (HMI) using an agent having anthropomorphic emotions to the user U who is the driver of the vehicle 100. The information providing system 1 may be configured as part of the functions of an in-vehicle device such as a navigation device mounted on the vehicle 100, or may be configured as a dedicated in-vehicle device. The vehicle 100 corresponds to the moving body of the present disclosure.

[0016] The information providing system 1 has a communication function and performs wireless communication with the wearable device 70 (such as a smartwatch) worn by the user U and the portable terminal 60 (such as a smartphone, tablet terminal, mobile phone, etc.) brought into the vehicle 100 by the user U. Further, the information providing system 1 communicates with an external communication system such as a content server 210 via the communication network 200.

[0017] The vehicle 100 is equipped with a driver monitor camera 54 for photographing the user U, a touch panel display 55, a speaker 56, a microphone 57 for collecting the speech of the user U, a front camera 50 for photographing the front of the vehicle 100, an Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) 2 for performing various driving assistance controls based on the photographed image of the front camera 50, and a navigation device 3 for guiding the route to the destination.

[0018] The agent mounted on the information providing system 1 is an interface agent configured by, for example, an AI (Artificial Intelligence) program. The agent is an interactive interface that analyzes the speech of the user U input to the microphone 57 by speech recognition and outputs information by voice output from the speaker 56 or image display on the display 55 according to the speech content. The agent makes proposals for the destination of the route guidance by the navigation device 3, proposals for the content downloaded from the content server 210 and played back, etc., according to the speech of the user U.

[0019] The information providing system 1 estimates the emotion of the user U based on the captured image of the user U by the driver monitoring camera 54, the voice of the user U input to the microphone 57, the biological information (heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, etc.) of the user U detected by the wearable device 70, and the like.

[0020] Then, the information providing system 1 sets the emotion of the agent based on the emotion of the user U, and the agent controls the mode of the voice output from the speaker 56 (speech content, intonation, pitch, volume, etc.) according to the set emotion. Also, although details will be described later, the information providing system 1 performs control to limit the degree of change of the emotion of the agent based on the degree of change of the emotion of the user U.

[0021] [2. Configuration of the Information Providing System] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the configuration of the information providing system 1 will be described. Referring to FIG. 2, the information providing system 1 is a control unit including a processor 10, a memory 20, a communication unit 30, and the like. The information providing system 1 is connected to the ADAS 2, speed sensor 51, gyro sensor 52, GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) sensor 53, driver monitoring camera 54, display 55, speaker 56, and microphone 57 mounted on the vehicle 100.

[0022] The communication unit 30 performs short-range wireless communication with the mobile terminal 60 and the wearable device 70 according to specifications such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and UWB (Ultra Wide Band). Also, the communication unit 30 communicates with the content server​​​Memory 20 stores the control program 21 for the information provision system 1, data for the emotion map 22, and other such information. Details of the emotion map 22 will be described later. By reading and executing the program 21, the processor 10 functions as the user state recognition unit 11, the user emotion estimation unit 12, the user emotion change degree recognition unit 13, the agent control unit 14, and the risk degree recognition unit 15.

[0024] The processing performed by the user state recognition unit 11 corresponds to the user state recognition step in the information provision method of this disclosure, the processing performed by the user emotion estimation unit 12 corresponds to the user emotion estimation step in the information provision method of this disclosure, the processing performed by the user emotion change degree recognition unit 13 corresponds to the user emotion change degree recognition step in the information provision method of this disclosure, and the processing performed by the agent control unit 14 corresponds to the agent control step in the information provision method of this disclosure.

[0025] The user state recognition unit 11 recognizes the state of user U, who is riding in the vehicle 100, based on at least one of the following: information input via touch operation on the display 55, an image of user U captured by the driver monitor camera 54, the user's voice input into the microphone 57, or biometric information of user U detected by the wearable device 70.

[0026] The user state recognition unit 11 recognizes, for example, the following elements as the state of user U. Element 1: The user U's response to a question such as "How are you feeling today?" displayed on the display 55 when the user U boards the vehicle 100, which is entered via touch operation on the display 55. Second element: User U's facial expressions and behavior as recognized from User U's image. Third element: User U's speech content, intonation, pitch, volume, and intonation. Fourth element: User U's biometric information (heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, etc.).

[0027] The user emotion estimation unit 12 estimates the emotions of user U based on the state of user U recognized by the user state recognition unit 11. The user emotion estimation unit 12 estimates the emotions of user U using the emotion map 22 shown in Figure 3, with emotional valence and arousal level as evaluation elements. Emotional valence is an evaluation element that indicates the level of user U's discomfort to pleasure, and arousal level is an evaluation element that indicates the level of user U's excitement to calmness.

[0028] The user emotion estimation unit 12 estimates the user U's emotions by, for example, setting the emotional valence and arousal levels based on the first to fourth elements as follows.

[0029] Regarding the first element described above, the user emotion estimation unit 12 sets the emotional valence of user U to a relatively high value (e.g., 3) if the response to the question is "as usual," and sets the arousal level to a relatively low value (e.g., -3) if the response to the question is "different from usual."

[0030] Regarding the second element described above, the user emotion estimation unit 12 determines, based on the user U's facial expression, that if user U has a smiling expression, it sets the emotional value to a relatively high value (e.g., 5), and if user U has a sulky expression, it sets the emotional value to a relatively low value (e.g., -5). Furthermore, based on the user U's behavior, the user emotion estimation unit 12 determines, based on the user U's behavior, that user U is restless, it sets the arousal level to a relatively high value (e.g., 3), and if user U is hardly moving, it sets the arousal level to a relatively low value (e.g., -3).

[0031] Regarding the third element described above, the user emotion estimation unit 12, based on the content of user U's utterance, sets the emotional valence to a relatively high value (e.g., 5) if it determines that the utterance is positive, such as praising or expressing expectations, and sets the emotional valence to a relatively low value (e.g., -5) if it determines that the utterance is negative, such as criticizing something. In addition, if the user emotion estimation unit 12 includes specific keywords in user U's utterance (e.g., "like," "super like"), it sets the emotional valence and arousal level values ​​associated with those keywords.

[0032] Furthermore, the user emotion estimation unit 12, based on the pitch of the user U's voice, sets the arousal level to a relatively high value (e.g., 3) if the user U's voice is above a predetermined pitch, and sets the arousal level to a relatively low value (e.g., -3) if the user U's voice is below the predetermined pitch.

[0033] Regarding the fourth element described above, the user emotion estimation unit 12 applies the detected values ​​of user U's biometric information (heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, etc.) to a pre-prepared correspondence table of detected values, emotional valence, and arousal level to set the emotional valence and arousal level. The correspondence table may be created based on user U's profile entered by user U or user U's biometric information detected in the past.

[0034] Furthermore, the user emotion estimation unit 12 may recognize values ​​for emotional valence and arousal based on changes in the vehicle's speed detected by the speed sensor 51, the vehicle's behavior detected by the gyro sensor 52, and fluctuations in the vehicle's position detected by the GNSS sensor 53. The user emotion estimation unit 12 may also estimate the user U's emotions based on either emotional valence or arousal, or on other evaluation factors.

[0035] The user emotion change recognition unit 13 calculates the user emotion change degree Dc, which is the ratio of the change in user U's emotion ΔE during a predetermined sampling period ΔT. Here, Figure 4A shows the change in user U's emotion E, estimated by the user emotion estimation unit 12, when user U is driving vehicle 100, with the horizontal axis set to time and the vertical axis set to the emotion estimate value. Figure 4A shows an example of calculating the user emotion change degree Dc (=ΔE / ΔT) with t1 to t2 as the sampling period ΔT.

[0036] The agent control unit 14 provides the user U with an HMI (Human-Machine Interface) provided by an anthropomorphic agent with emotions. The agent control unit 14 analyzes the user U's speech input to the microphone 57 and outputs a response to the speech by outputting the agent's voice from the speaker 56 or displaying the agent's image on the display 55. The agent control unit 14 changes the agent's emotions according to the emotions of the user U estimated by the user emotion estimation unit 12, and changes the output characteristics (intonation, pitch, volume, etc.) of the agent's voice output from the speaker 56 according to the agent's emotions. Details of the processing by the agent control unit 14 will be described later.

[0037] The risk level recognition unit 15 recognizes a risk level indicating the level of risk facing the vehicle 100, based on the risk information input from the ADAS2. Risks facing the vehicle 100 include approaching objects to be monitored (other vehicles, pedestrians, obstacles, etc.) in the vicinity of the vehicle 100, and the risk level increases as the distance between the vehicle 100 and the object to be monitored decreases. Alternatively, the risk level recognition unit 15 may recognize the degree of concentration of the user U on driving from the user U's facial image captured by the driver monitor camera 54 or the user U's biometric information detected by the wearable device 70, and recognize the risk level facing the vehicle 100 in accordance with the decrease in the degree of concentration. Alternatively, the risk level recognition unit 15 may calculate the risk level by using a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device, a GNSS unit, and V2X (vehicle-to-infrastructure or pedestrian-to-vehicle) communication to calculate the distance to the monitored object in the vicinity of the vehicle 100.

[0038] [3. Agent's emotional control processing] The procedure for emotion control processing of the HMI agent, performed by the information provision system 1, will be explained according to the flowchart shown in Figure 5. When the information provision system 1 recognizes that user U has boarded vehicle 100 and performed the power-on operation, it starts the processing according to the flowchart shown in Figure 5.

[0039] In step S1 of Figure 5, the user emotion estimation unit 12 estimates the user's emotions during a predetermined period from the time of boarding, based on the state of user U recognized by the user state recognition unit 11. In the subsequent step S2, the agent control unit 14 sets a base emotion, which is the basis for the emotions to be set for the agent, based on the emotions of user U estimated by the user emotion estimation unit 12 in step S1.

[0040] In the next step S3, the user emotion change degree recognition unit 13 calculates the change amount ΔE of the estimated emotion of user U during the sampling period ΔT, as described above with reference to Figure 4, and calculates the user emotion change degree Dc. In the following step S4, the risk degree recognition unit 15 recognizes the degree of risk facing the vehicle 100.

[0041] In the following step S5, the user emotion estimation unit 12 estimates the emotions of user U based on the state of user U recognized by the user state recognition unit 11. In the next step S6, the agent control unit 14 determines whether the degree of risk facing the vehicle 100 is above a predetermined level. If the degree of risk is above a predetermined level, the agent control unit 14 proceeds to step S20; if the degree of risk is below a predetermined level, it proceeds to step S7.

[0042] In step S7, the agent control unit 14 sets the upper limit of the degree of change in the agent's emotions to the user emotion change degree Dc. In the following step S8, the agent control unit 14 sets the agent's emotions based on the base emotions set in step S2 and the emotions of user U estimated by the user emotion estimation unit 12 in step S5, and proceeds to step S9. Here, Figure 4B shows the progression of the agent's emotions set by the agent control unit 14 when user U is driving the vehicle 100, with the horizontal axis set to time and the vertical axis set to the emotion setting value.

[0043] The agent control unit 14 changes the agent's emotions so that the degree of change in the agent's emotions does not exceed the user emotion change degree Dc, which is set as the upper limit. As a result, as shown by NG in Figure 4B, the agent's emotions change to a degree that exceeds the user emotion change degree Dc, and in response, the intonation and pitch of the voice output by the agent from the speaker 56 change significantly, thereby suppressing the user U from feeling uncomfortable. More specifically, as shown in Figure 4B, the agent control unit 14 changes the agent's emotion by setting the agent's emotion setting value E' such that the absolute value of the degree of change De (=ΔE' / ΔT') of the amount of change ΔE' during the sampling period ΔT' (t1'~t2') does not exceed the absolute value of the user emotion change degree Dc mentioned above, referring to Figure 4A (by the condition |De|≦|Dc|).

[0044] Furthermore, in step S20, the agent control unit 14 sets the agent's emotion based on the base emotion set in step S2 and the emotion of user U estimated by the user emotion estimation unit 12 in step S5, and proceeds to step S9. In this case, no upper limit is set for changing the agent's emotion. This allows the agent's emotion to change significantly as the risk level increases, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the warning voice output from the speaker 56.

[0045] In step S9, the agent control unit 14 determines whether or not the vehicle 100 has been turned off. If the power has not been turned off, the agent control unit 14 proceeds to step S3 and repeats the processes in steps S3-S9 and S20. On the other hand, if the power has been turned off, the agent control unit 14 proceeds to step S10 and terminates the agent's emotion control process.

[0046] [4. Other Embodiments] In the above embodiment, a vehicle 100 was shown as the mobile body of this disclosure, but the mobile body of this disclosure may be any mobile body that provides an HMI using an agent to a user while on board, and may be an aircraft, a ship, or the like.

[0047] In the above embodiment, an information provision system 1 configured with an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle 100 was given as an example of the information provision system of the present disclosure. In other embodiments, part or all of the information provision system of the present disclosure may be configured with a mobile terminal 60 brought into the vehicle 100, or an external communication system such as a content server 210.

[0048] When the information provision system is configured using the mobile terminal 60, the HMI using an agent can be provided using the camera, microphone, speaker, and display provided on the mobile terminal 60. Alternatively, biometric information of user U may be acquired through communication between the wearable device 70 and the mobile terminal 60, and user U's emotions may be estimated by the mobile terminal 60 based on the biometric information. Furthermore, when the information provision system is configured using an external communication system, for example, images of user U captured by the driver monitor camera 54 of the vehicle 100 and audio data input to the microphone 57 can be transmitted from the vehicle 100 to the external communication system, and the emotions of the agent can be set by the external communication system.

[0049] In the above embodiment, a risk level recognition unit 15 is provided, and by processing steps S6 to S8 in Figure 5, it is determined whether the risk level facing the vehicle 100 is above a predetermined level, and an upper limit is set for the degree of change in the agent's emotions. In another embodiment, the risk level recognition unit 15 may be omitted, and the upper limit for the degree of change in the agent's emotions may be set at all times.

[0050] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the information provision system 1 divided by its main processing content, in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention. The configuration of the information provision system 1 may be composed of other divisions. Furthermore, the processing of each component may be performed by one hardware unit or by multiple hardware units. Also, the processing of each component shown in Figure 5 may be performed by one program or by multiple programs.

[0051] [5. Configurations supported by the above embodiment] The above embodiment is a specific example of the following configuration.

[0052] (Configuration 1) An information provision system comprising: a user state recognition unit that recognizes the state of a user riding in a mobile vehicle; a user emotion estimation unit that estimates the user's emotions based on the recognition result of the user state recognition unit; a user emotion change degree recognition unit that recognizes the degree of change in the user's emotions estimated by the user emotion estimation unit; and an agent control unit that provides the user with an HMI (Human Machine Interface) that uses an anthropomorphic agent having emotions and outputs information in an output manner corresponding to the agent's emotions, and changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the user emotion change degree.

[0053] According to the information provision system in Configuration 1, when providing information to users on board a mobile vehicle using an agent-based HMI, it is possible to suppress the possibility of users feeling uncomfortable.

[0054] (Configuration 2) The information provision system according to Configuration 1, wherein the agent control unit sets a base emotion that serves as the basis for the agent's emotion based on the user's emotion estimated by the user emotion estimation unit within a predetermined period from the time the user boards the mobile vehicle, and changes the agent's emotion based on the base emotion and the degree of change in the user's emotion.

[0055] According to the information provision system in Configuration 2, the agent's emotions can be changed in accordance with the user's emotional changes from the moment the user boards the mobile vehicle.

[0056] (Configuration 3) The information provision system according to Configuration 1 or Configuration 2, wherein the agent control unit sets the upper limit of the degree of emotional change to be less than or equal to the degree of user emotional change.

[0057] According to the information provision system in Configuration 3, it is possible to prevent the agent's emotional changes from becoming excessive in response to the user's emotional changes, which could lead to an increased sense of unease for the user.

[0058] (Configuration 4) An information provision system according to any one of Configurations 1 to 3, wherein the user emotion estimation unit uses emotion valence as an estimation element for the user's emotions, and the agent control unit uses emotion valence as a control element for the agent's emotions.

[0059] According to the information provision system in configuration 4, it is possible to estimate the user's emotions using emotional valence, which is an evaluation scale for pleasure and displeasure, and to control the agent's emotions as well.

[0060] (Configuration 5) An information provision system according to any one of Configurations 1 to 4, wherein the user emotion estimation unit uses the level of arousal as an estimation element for the user's emotions, and the agent control unit uses the level of arousal as a control element for the agent's emotions.

[0061] According to the information provision system in Configuration 5, the system can estimate the user's emotions and control the agent's emotions using the level of arousal, which is an evaluation scale for excitement and sedation.

[0062] (Configuration 6) An information provision system according to any one of Configurations 1 to 5, comprising a risk level recognition unit that recognizes the degree of risk facing the moving object, wherein the agent control unit changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed the upper limit of the degree of emotion change when the degree of risk is below a predetermined level, and changes the agent's emotions beyond the upper limit of the degree of emotion change when the degree of risk exceeds the predetermined level.

[0063] According to the information provision system in Configuration 6, when the degree of risk facing a moving object (the degree of risk caused by the approach of other moving objects, a decrease in the concentration of the user driving the object, etc.) decreases, the agent's emotions can be changed beyond the upper limit of the degree of emotion change, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of alerts based on information determined by the agent's emotions.

[0064] (Configuration 7) An information provision method that performs the following steps using a computer: a user state recognition step that recognizes the state of a user riding in a mobile vehicle; a user emotion estimation step that estimates the user's emotions based on the recognition result of the user state recognition step; a user emotion change degree recognition step that recognizes the degree of change in the user's emotions estimated by the user emotion estimation step; and an agent control step that provides the user with an HMI (Human Machine Interface) that uses an anthropomorphic emotion-having agent to output information in an output manner corresponding to the agent's emotions, and changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the user emotion change degree.

[0065] By executing the information provision method of Configuration 7 using a computer, the same effects and benefits as the information provision system of Configuration 1 can be obtained.

[0066] (Configuration 8) A program that causes a computer to function as: a user state recognition unit that recognizes the state of a user riding in a mobile vehicle; a user emotion estimation unit that estimates the user's emotions based on the recognition result of the user state recognition unit; a user emotion change degree recognition unit that recognizes the degree of change in the user's emotions estimated by the user emotion estimation unit; and an agent control unit that provides the user with an HMI (Human Machine Interface) that uses an anthropomorphic agent having emotions and outputs information in an output manner corresponding to the agent's emotions, and changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the user emotion change degree.

[0067] By executing the program in Configuration 8 on a computer, the configuration of the information provision system in Configuration 1 can be realized. [Explanation of symbols]

[0068] 1...Information provision system, 2...ADAS, 10...Processor, 11...User state recognition unit, 12...User emotion estimation unit, 13...User emotion level recognition unit, 14...Agent control unit, 15...Risk level recognition unit, 20...Memory, 21...Program, 22...Emotion map, 30...Communication unit, 50...Front camera, 51...Speed ​​sensor, 52...Gyro sensor, 53...GNSS sensor, 54...Driver monitor camera, 55...Display, 56...Speaker, 57...Microphone, 60...Mobile terminal, 70...Wearable device, 100...Vehicle (mobile object), 200...Communication network, 210...Content server, U...User.

Claims

1. A user status recognition unit that recognizes the status of the user riding in the mobile vehicle, A user emotion estimation unit estimates the user's emotions based on the user state recognition result by the user state recognition unit, A user emotion change degree recognition unit recognizes the degree of change in the user's emotions, which is the degree of change in the user's emotions estimated by the user emotion estimation unit. The system provides the user with an HMI (Human Machine Interface) that uses an anthropomorphic agent with emotions to output information in an output manner corresponding to the agent's emotions, and includes an agent control unit that changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the degree of emotion change of the user, An information provision system equipped with the following features.

2. The agent control unit sets a base emotion for the agent's emotion based on the user's emotion estimated by the user emotion estimation unit within a predetermined period from the time the user boards the mobile vehicle, and changes the agent's emotion based on the base emotion and the degree of change in the user's emotion. The information provision system according to claim 1.

3. The agent control unit sets the upper limit of the degree of emotional change to be less than or equal to the degree of emotional change of the user. The information provision system according to claim 1.

4. The user emotion estimation unit uses emotional valence as an element for estimating the user's emotion, The agent control unit uses emotional valence as an emotional control element of the agent. The information provision system according to claim 1.

5. The user emotion estimation unit uses the level of arousal as an element for estimating the user's emotion, The agent control unit uses the level of arousal as an element for controlling the agent's emotions. The information provision system according to claim 1.

6. The moving object is equipped with a risk level recognition unit that recognizes the degree of risk it faces, The agent control unit changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed the upper limit of the degree of emotion change when the risk level is below a predetermined level, and changes the agent's emotions beyond the upper limit of the degree of emotion change when the risk level exceeds the predetermined level. An information provision system according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. By computer, A user status recognition step that recognizes the status of the user riding in the mobile vehicle, A user emotion estimation step is performed to estimate the user's emotions based on the results of the user state recognition step, A user emotion change degree recognition step which recognizes the degree of change in the user's emotions estimated by the user emotion estimation step, The process involves providing the user with a Human Machine Interface (HMI) that uses an anthropomorphic agent to output information in an output manner corresponding to the agent's emotions, and an agent control step that changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the degree of emotion change of the user, A method for providing information to carry out the task.

8. Computers, A user status recognition unit that recognizes the status of the user riding in the mobile vehicle, A user emotion estimation unit estimates the user's emotions based on the user state recognition result by the user state recognition unit, A user emotion change degree recognition unit recognizes the degree of change in the user's emotions, which is the degree of change in the user's emotions estimated by the user emotion estimation unit. The system provides the user with an HMI (Human Machine Interface) that uses an anthropomorphic agent with emotions to output information in an output manner corresponding to the agent's emotions, and includes an agent control unit that changes the agent's emotions within a range that does not exceed an upper limit of the degree of emotion change set based on the degree of emotion change of the user, A program that makes something work.

Images