Vehicle control device
The vehicle control device detects and responds to passenger interest in gaze targets, offering tailored services and adjusting vehicle operations to enhance convenience and safety during travel.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- JP2020072963
- Authority / Receiving Office
- JP · JP
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2020-04-15
- Publication Date
- 2024-12-10
- Estimated Expiration
- 2040-04-15
AI Technical Summary
Current technologies, such as those described in Patent Document 1, fail to provide adequate services to passengers when they encounter interesting gaze targets during vehicle travel, especially as autonomous driving becomes prevalent, and simply presenting advertisements may not suffice to meet user needs.
A vehicle control device that detects visible objects, determines the driver's interest level, and adjusts thresholds based on driving conditions to present relevant information or transaction processing, while optionally switching to automatic vehicle operation to reduce the driver's load.
Enhances passenger convenience by providing tailored services when interesting gaze targets are encountered, ensuring safety by adjusting operations based on driving conditions.
Smart Images

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Abstract
Description
[Technical field]
[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle control device that executes a transaction process after determining an occupant's interest in an object being gazed at. [Background technology]
[0002] Automobiles are a convenient means of transportation, and people can travel to various places in their cars. When driving, if there is something that catches the driver's interest, the driver will often focus on that object.
[0003] At this time, an invention has been proposed that estimates the user's (passenger's) position and viewing direction from the GPS and camera direction installed in the smartphone, and then superimposes advertisements, etc. on the photographic information (buildings, etc.) captured by the camera (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]
[0004] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2012-527053 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]
[0005] The current technologies, including those described in the above patent documents, do not adequately meet market needs, and the following problems exist: According to the above patent document 1, it is indeed possible to present advertising material to passengers even if there is no actual advertising material or signboard. However, it is expected that autonomous driving will progress in the future, and drivers, for example, will be able to secure time for other purposes while in the car. On the other hand, if a user encounters an object that catches their eye while driving, simply presenting an advertisement may not be enough to satisfy the user's needs.
[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems as an example, and aims to provide a vehicle control device that can present occupants with a more convenient service when they encounter an interesting object of gaze. [Means for solving the problem]
[0007] In order to solve the above problems, a vehicle control device according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: (1) Driving a vehicle a visually recognized object detection means for detecting a visually recognized object visually recognized by a driver; and an interest level determination means for determining an interest level of the driver in the detected visually recognized object; While the vehicle is traveling, A display means is caused to display information on the visually recognized object determined to have a high degree of interest, and the contents of a transaction process related to the visually recognized object are displayed. Automatically A transaction display control means for presenting the transaction display; A driving load detection means for detecting a driving load of the driver; Equipped with The interest level determination means changes a determination threshold for determining the interest level of the driver depending on the driving conditions based on the vehicle speed information of the vehicle, and the transaction display control means stores information of the viewed object without presenting the transaction process to the driver depending on the detected driving load. .
[0009] In addition, (1) In the vehicle control device described in 2 ) A driving condition detection means for detecting a driving condition of the vehicle is preferably further provided, and the transaction display control means preferably limits the presentation of the transaction process according to the detected driving condition of the vehicle.
[0010] In addition, 1 In the vehicle control device described in ( 3 ) a vehicle control unit that controls the driving of the vehicle, the vehicle control unit performing, during at least a period while the transaction process is being presented, By switching at least a part of the drive control to automatic operation, It is preferable to restrict the driver's driving operation of the vehicle.
[0011] In addition, the above (1) to ( 3 In the vehicle control device according to any one of the following: 4 ) It is preferable that the transaction display control means displays correction necessity input information prompting the user as to whether or not correction is necessary for the viewed object determined to have a high level of interest. Effect of the Invention
[0012] According to the present invention, when a passenger encounters an object of interest, it is possible to present the passenger with a service that is more convenient. [Brief description of the drawings]
[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a system configuration diagram of a vehicle in a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart showing a gaze event processing method in the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 13 is an example of a transaction screen in the gaze event processing method according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] 4 is a configuration example of a database that stores gaze events in the first embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram of a vehicle according to a second embodiment. [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart showing a gaze event processing method in the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0014] Next, a preferred embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described. In addition, configurations other than those described in detail below may be appropriately supplemented with known vehicle structures and imaging systems including on-board cameras and various vehicle sensors. For example, known detection and determination techniques exemplified in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, JP 2008-018853 A, JP 2013-255168 A, etc. can be applied to detect the line of sight of the occupant and determine the gaze area, as long as they are not inconsistent with the purpose of this embodiment.
[0015] [First embodiment] <Vehicle system configuration> FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of a vehicle including a control device CTL in the first embodiment. The control device CTL of this embodiment has a function of detecting the object of gaze of an occupant, such as a driver, in the vehicle, and is mounted, for example, in a two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive vehicle, and has a function of automatically capturing images outside the vehicle using the imaging device VR described later.
[0016] Here, the term "gaze target" in this embodiment refers to a gaze target object (object such as an object or person) outside or inside the vehicle that is being watched by a vehicle occupant such as a driver. The "gaze target" in this embodiment also includes an object in a virtual space that is viewed by the occupant through, for example, an HMD (head mounted display) or smart glasses. In other words, the "gaze target object" in this specification is defined as an object such as an object or person in a real space or a virtual space that a person can sense through his or her vision. In addition, the term "gaze event" refers to a gaze target object that is estimated to be of interest to the occupant and that is watched by the occupant for a period of time exceeding a judgment threshold described later, among the gaze targets.
[0017] More specifically, the vehicle of this embodiment includes the above-mentioned control device CTL, imaging device VR, presentation device DS, external communication device CS, sensors SR, navigation device NS, storage device MR, etc. In the following, a four-wheeled vehicle such as an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle will be described as a suitable example of a vehicle applicable to this embodiment.
[0018] In this embodiment, the imaging device VR includes an outside-vehicle camera VR1 and an inside-vehicle camera VR2. The outside-vehicle camera VR1 is a known in-vehicle camera for capturing images of the outside of the vehicle, consisting of one or more cameras. It is desirable that such an outside-vehicle camera VR1 has a known tilt mechanism such as a pan mechanism or tilt mechanism so that it can capture images of the outside of the vehicle in all directions. Note that the tilt mechanism is not necessarily required, and the imaging device VR may be configured with multiple wide-angle cameras so that it can capture images of the front, rear, left, and right independently.
[0019] The in-vehicle camera VR2 is made up of one or more cameras for capturing images of the faces of the occupants. In order to reliably detect the line of sight of each occupant, it is preferable to install multiple in-vehicle cameras VR2 corresponding to each occupant, such as for the driver's seat, the passenger seat, the left rear seat, and the right rear seat. Such an exterior camera VR1 can be a known in-vehicle camera that captures facial images of each occupant using visible light or infrared light.
[0020] In this embodiment, the presentation device DS includes a known speaker SP and a display DP mounted on a vehicle. The display DP may also be used as a monitor for a navigation device NS, which will be described later. The presentation device DS of this embodiment may be configured to be capable of short-distance wireless communication with a portable device such as a smartphone owned by a passenger.
[0021] This makes it possible for the presentation device DS to present gaze events and their transaction processes, which will be described later, via the passenger's smartphone or the like. In this embodiment, in addition to or instead of the above, a known head mounted display (HMD), smart glasses, or head up display (HUD) that can be worn by a passenger may be applied as the presentation device DS. When using a virtual space in this way, since a visually recognized object such as an advertisement can be displayed in any location, the visually recognized object may be presented, for example, inside the vehicle (for example, on the lining of the front pillar or the lining of the roof).
[0022] The external communication device CS may be, for example, a known communication device capable of performing various types of information communication with the outside world using, for example, packet communication using the above-mentioned smartphone, or next-generation automobile wireless communication technology such as connected services. This makes it possible to transmit a gaze event (described later) to the outside of the vehicle via a network NET such as the Internet.
[0023] The sensors SR include a known speed sensor for detecting the vehicle speed, an acceleration sensor for detecting the acceleration, a steering angle sensor for detecting the steering angle, etc. Also, known biosensors that can be mounted on vehicle equipment such as a steering wheel are included in the sensors SR, and it is possible to estimate the level of interest of the occupant, which will be described later, based on the detection results of such biosensors.
[0024] The navigation device NS is equipped with a GPS device for acquiring vehicle position information, and map information such as area names and buildings, etc. Therefore, in detecting the attributes of a gaze event, which will be described later, the attributes of the gaze event can be determined using, for example, genre information (popular spots, leisure facilities, restaurants, convenience stores, etc.) stored in this map information. The storage device MR can be, for example, a known hard disk drive or non-volatile memory, and is a means capable of temporarily recording gaze events as necessary.
[0025] Next, the configuration of the control device CTL that is mounted on the vehicle and is capable of executing gaze event transaction processing and the like, which will be described later, will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 1, the control device CTL in the first embodiment includes a gaze detection unit 10, a gaze determination unit 20, an interest level determination unit 30, and a transaction execution / display control unit .
[0026] The gaze detection unit 10 functions as a gaze object detection means for detecting a gaze object (gaze target) that an occupant (e.g., the driver) gazes in the real space or virtual space described above. More specifically, in the case of the real space described above, the gaze detection unit 10 extracts the gaze direction from a facial image of the occupant (e.g., the driver) acquired using the in-car camera VR2 described above. A known gaze tracking technique can be applied to such gaze detection of the occupant. On the other hand, in the case of the virtual space described above, the gaze detection unit 10 can receive gaze information from an HMD or smart glasses and detect a gaze object that the occupant gazes.
[0027] As for such gaze tracking technology, for example, as explained in JP 2013-255168 A, reference can be made to "Yasuhiro Ono, Takahiro Okabe, Yoichi Sato, "Estimation of gaze direction from low-resolution images", Transactions of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, Vol. J90-D, No. 8, p. 2212-2222, 2007", or existing technologies such as gaze detection using facial feature point extraction can be used. In the following, a driver will be illustrated as an example of an occupant, but the present invention is not limited to the driver and can also be applied to occupants in the passenger seat or the rear seat.
[0028] The gaze determination unit 20 determines whether the gaze target at that time is a gaze event based on a determination threshold determined by a threshold determination unit (not shown) in the control device CTL. For example, if the determination threshold is set to "t seconds" by an interest level determination unit (described later), the gaze determination unit 20 determines that the gaze target is a gaze event when the occupant's gaze time exceeds t seconds. This makes it possible to more appropriately determine that the gaze target in which the occupant is interested is a gaze event.
[0029] The interest level determination unit 30 has a function of determining whether or not the occupant shows interest in the gaze target that the occupant is gazing at. More specifically, the interest level determination unit 30 of this embodiment estimates that the occupant is interested in the gaze target when the occupant gazes at the gaze target for a predetermined period of time. In this embodiment, such a predetermined period of time is defined as a "determination threshold" determined by the interest level determination unit 30. In this manner, the gaze determination unit 20 and the interest level determination unit 30 of the present embodiment function as interest level determination means for determining the occupant's interest level in the detected gaze target object (gaze target).
[0030] The interest level determination unit 30 may relatively vary the above-mentioned determination threshold based on signals from sensors SR such as a vehicle speed sensor. For example, the determination threshold can be set to a short value when the vehicle speed is relatively high, such as when driving on a highway, and the threshold can be set to a reference value (t seconds in the above example) when the vehicle speed is relatively low, such as when driving on a general road. This can prevent the occupant from missing a gaze target that he or she is actually interested in, for example, when moving at high speed.
[0031] The transaction execution / display control unit 70, as a transaction display control means, has a function of displaying information on the gazed object (gaze event) determined to have a high interest level on the presentation device DS as a display means, and executing a transaction process related to the gazed object. Such a "transaction process" can be set in various ways depending on, for example, the type of gaze event (interesting gazed object).
[0032] For example, if the watched event is a restaurant, the transaction process may be a reservation process. If the watched event is a store selling goods, the transaction process may be a purchase process for the goods. In this way, the control device CTL of this embodiment has a function of changing the settlement process for the watched event according to the type of the watched event.
[0033] The transaction execution / display control unit 70 presents the gaze event and its transaction processing to the occupant via the presentation device P. More specifically, the transaction execution / display control unit 70 of this embodiment can present the gaze event and its transaction processing to the occupant via at least one of the above-mentioned HMD, HUD, speaker SP, and display DP.
[0034] In other words, the transaction execution / display control unit 70 can select, as the presentation mode of the gaze event, one of the following: displaying the gaze event with sound and image, displaying either with sound or image, or storing the gaze event in the storage device MR without displaying with sound and image. An example of the presentation mode of such a gaze event and its transaction process, which is displayed together with an image, is shown in FIG. 3.
[0035] At this time, the transaction execution / display control unit 70 may present the gaze event not only to the occupant who gazed at the gaze event but also to other occupants in the vehicle at the same time. In addition to or instead of the above, the transaction execution / display control unit 70 may present the gaze event to a mobile device such as a smartphone carried by the occupant via short-range wireless communication.
[0036] In addition, the transaction execution / display control unit 70 preferably has a function of storing the above-mentioned gaze events in the storage device MR. This allows the passenger to check the gaze events that he or she gazed upon with interest after the fact or to share them with others. An example of a recording mode of such gaze events in the storage device MR is shown in FIG. 4.
[0037] As shown in the figure, each gaze event stores an individual identification ID, the date of occurrence, the content of the gaze event (gazing event information), and gazing person information gazing at the gaze event. Note that the configuration example of the database shown in FIG. 4 is just an example, and other additional information such as time information may be further added. Note that the gazing person information may be assigned an identification ID after face recognition is performed using the above-mentioned in-vehicle camera VR2, for example. This makes it possible to automatically assign an identification ID as personal information to each occupant who gets into the vehicle.
[0038] <How to process gaze events> Next, the gaze event processing method in the first embodiment will be described with further reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the line of sight of a passenger (e.g., a driver) in a vehicle such as an automobile is detected as described above to capture an object (gaze target) that the passenger is looking at inside or outside the vehicle. Then, using the above-mentioned judgment threshold, it is determined whether the gaze target that the passenger is gazing at is an interesting gaze event, and the transaction process is also executed. In the following, we will use as an example a case where an occupant is gazing at an object outside the vehicle in real space, but it goes without saying that the same can be applied to the case of an object being viewed in a virtual space through smart glasses, etc., as described above.
[0039] That is, first, in step 1, the gaze of the occupant is detected using the gaze detection unit 10 (visual object detection means) described above. More specifically, the gaze of the occupant is captured by the in-vehicle camera VR2 as described above. Note that in this step 1, if there are multiple occupants in the vehicle, the gaze of each occupant may be detected. In the following, the explanation will be continued by taking the driver of the vehicle as an example of an occupant, for example.
[0040] Next, in step 2, it is determined whether the occupant is gazing at the gaze target by using the gaze determination unit 20. More specifically, the gaze target is identified in the same manner as the method disclosed in the above-mentioned JP 2013-255168 A.
[0041] At this time, the candidates for the gaze target of the occupant may be narrowed down by referring to the map information of the navigation device NS and the vehicle position information, etc. Also, if it is determined in step 2 that there is no gaze target because the gaze is not fixed within a predetermined range but moves discretely, the process returns to step 1 and starts again from gaze detection.
[0042] If it is determined in step 2 that the occupant is gazing at the gaze target, it is determined in the following step 3 whether the gaze target is a new target. For example, in the initial stage at the start of this process, there is no previous gaze target, so the process proceeds to step 4.
[0043] On the other hand, for example, if the judgment threshold has not been reached in step 5 described below and the process is repeated again from step 1, if the object of gaze has not shifted to a new object in step 3, the process proceeds to step 5 without going through step 4 (if the answer is No in step 3).
[0044] In step 4, it is determined whether to determine the gaze target as a gaze event using the gaze determination unit 20 and the interest level determination unit 30. More specifically, the control device CTL uses the determination threshold determined by the interest level determination unit 30 to determine whether the occupant gazes at the viewed object beyond the determination threshold.
[0045] When the determination threshold is reached after the occupant gazes at the gaze target (Yes in step 5), the gaze target is determined to be a gaze event in which the occupant gazes with interest. Note that at this time, the control device CTL may vary the determination threshold depending on the vehicle running conditions obtained from the vehicle speed information, etc., as described above.
[0046] On the other hand, if the determination threshold has not been reached since the occupant gazed at the gaze target in step 5 (No in step 5), the process returns to step 1 and the above-mentioned process is repeated. At this time, if there is no change in the occupant's gaze target, it is determined again in step 5 via steps 1 to 3 whether the determination threshold has been reached.
[0047] If the gaze target is determined to be a gaze event in step 5, it is determined in the following step 6 whether the gaze target object with a high degree of interest determined as the gaze event can be traded. More specifically, the control device CTL detects information on the gaze target object from, for example, the above-mentioned map information or image information from the outside camera.
[0048] If the result of this detection is that the visually recognized object is a facility that provides services such as a restaurant or a facility that can provide products, the process proceeds to step 7-A. On the other hand, if the control device CTL determines that the visually recognized object is something other than the above-mentioned facilities (such as a person) based on the map information or the image information from the outside camera, the process proceeds to step 7 and performs a storage process for the gaze event as shown in FIG. 4 (step 7-B).
[0049] In step 7-A, the transaction execution / display control unit 70 as a transaction display control means presents the above-mentioned attention event and executes the transaction process. More specifically, for example, if the attention event is a restaurant, the transaction screen 71 shown in FIG. 3 is displayed and the reservation process is executed.
[0050] In addition, the transaction screen 71 of this embodiment shows, as an example, a gaze event ID 72 (see also FIG. 4), gaze event information 73 (see also FIG. 4), transaction processing content 74, reservation date and time information 75, and execution necessity information 76. However, examples of the reservation screen are not limited to the above, and other publicly known additional information such as detailed information on the gaze event may be presented.
[0051] In step 8, it is determined whether driving has ended, for example, by the vehicle reaching the destination. If it is not yet OFF (No in step 8), the process returns to step 1 and continues as described above; if it is OFF (Yes in step 8), the process ends.
[0052] According to the gaze event processing method of this embodiment described above, not only is it determined that the gaze object that the occupant is gazing at is a gaze event that interests them, but transaction processing is also performed regarding that gaze event, thereby realizing in-vehicle services that are more convenient for occupants.
[0053] In this embodiment, the transaction execution / display control unit 70 immediately presents the determined gaze event to the occupant via the presentation device DS. However, as a presentation mode, in addition to immediately presenting the gaze event as described above, for example, in step 8, the gaze event may be temporarily stored in the storage device MR and presented by time shifting while the vehicle is stopped, or information regarding the gaze event may be transferred to the occupant's smartphone or the like and presented at any time.
[0054] [Second embodiment] Next, the system configuration of the vehicle including the control device CTL in the second embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 5 and 6. The main feature of this embodiment is that it further has at least one of the following features: the transaction processing of the gaze event can be restricted in consideration of the driver's driving load, and the transaction processing of the gaze event can be restricted in consideration of the driving conditions of the vehicle. Therefore, in the following, the components having the same functions as those in the first embodiment described above will be given the same reference numbers and their description will be omitted as appropriate.
[0055] 5, the control device CTL of this embodiment has, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment described above, a driving load determination unit 40, a driving situation determination unit 50, and a vehicle control unit 60. Note that the control device CTL of this embodiment does not need to have all of the driving load determination unit 40, the driving situation determination unit 50, and the vehicle control unit 60 described above at the same time, and it is sufficient if it has at least one of these configurations.
[0056] The driving load determination unit 40 has a function of determining whether the driving load of the driver is high or not. As a method for detecting the driving load of the driver, a known detection method such as those exemplified in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-079844 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2016-179164 can be applied. In this manner, the control device CTL of this embodiment may further include a driving load determination unit 40 as a driving load detection means for detecting the driving load of the driver. The transaction execution / display control unit 70 as a transaction display control means may be configured to limit the execution of transaction processing in accordance with the driving load.
[0057] Specifically, the transaction execution / display control unit 70 may impose restrictions on the presence or absence of presentation (display restriction), the timing of presentation, or the position of presentation depending on the type of gaze event. For example, the transaction execution / display control unit 70 may always display traffic signs (speed limits, etc.), but may not present a gaze event when it is determined that the driver's driving load is high, and may present the event when the driving load decreases.
[0058] The driving situation determination unit 50 determines whether or not the driving situation is one in which the occupant (such as the driver) should not pay attention to the attention event, based on the driving situation information from the above-mentioned sensors SR, the navigation device NS, or the external communication device CS. Examples of such driving-emphasis situations include a curve or intersection with poor visibility, a crowded area or time period, or a situation obtained from the driving situation information, such as heavy rain or snowfall.
[0059] In this manner, the control device CTL of this embodiment may further include a driving condition determination unit 50 as a driving condition detection means for detecting the driving condition of the vehicle. The transaction execution / display control unit 70 as a transaction display control means may be configured to restrict the execution of transaction processing according to the driving condition, for example, when the driving condition is a driving priority condition.
[0060] The vehicle control unit 60 has a function of controlling the driving of the vehicle. More specifically, the vehicle control unit 60 has a function of switching between automatic driving control of the vehicle and manual driving by the driver. Therefore, for example, based on the determination result of the driving load determination unit 40 or the driving situation determination unit 50 described above, the vehicle control unit 60 can change the driving control of the vehicle.
[0061] As an example, when the driving load determination unit 40 determines that the driver's driving load is high, the vehicle control unit 60 may perform driving control to switch at least a portion of the vehicle's driving control to automatic driving, for example by performing steering operation assistance.
[0062] Next, a gaze event processing method in the second embodiment will be described with further reference to Fig. 6. Note that steps 1 to 6 of the gaze event processing method in this embodiment are similar to those in the first embodiment, so that the description thereof will be omitted.
[0063] In the gaze event processing method of the present embodiment, when transaction processing of a gaze event (a viewed object of interest) is possible as described above, at least one of the following processes is performed. That is, first, in step α, the driving load determination unit 40 of the control device CTL determines whether the driver's driving load is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. If the driver's driving load is equal to or greater than the predetermined value (Yes in step α), that is, if the driver is estimated to be fatigued, the transaction process of the gaze event is not performed, and only the storage process of the gaze event is executed (step 7-B).
[0064] If the driver's driving load is not equal to or greater than the predetermined value in step α, it is determined in the following step β whether the driving situation is the driving-oriented situation described above. If the driving-oriented situation is such as when the vehicle is approaching an intersection with poor visibility (No in step β), the transaction process of the gaze event is not performed, and only the storage process of the gaze event is executed (step 7-B).
[0065] On the other hand, if it is determined in step β that the driving situation is not the driving-oriented situation, the process proceeds to the next step 7-B, where the transaction process for the gaze event described in the first embodiment is continued.
[0066] In the above description, the vehicle control unit 60 performs drive control to switch at least a part of the drive control of the vehicle to automatic driving when the driver's driving load is high, when driving is prioritized, etc. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and may perform drive control to switch at least a part of the drive control to automatic driving when the driver's driving load is not high, or when driving is not prioritized, for example.
[0067] That is, the control device CTL of this embodiment may include a vehicle control unit 60 as a vehicle control means for controlling the vehicle. The vehicle control unit 60 may limit at least a part of the driving operation of the vehicle by the driver during at least a period while the transaction processing is being executed by the transaction execution / display control unit 70.
[0068] The second embodiment described above can also obtain the same effects as the first embodiment described above, and can also perform flexible transaction processing of gaze events according to the driver's driving load and the vehicle's driving conditions.
[0069] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that a person skilled in the art can try to further modify the above-described embodiments, and it is understood that these also naturally fall within the technical scope of the present invention.
[0070] For example, in the first and second embodiments described above, the interest level determination means determines that a visually recognized object of high interest to the occupant (such as the driver) is a gazed event. However, the present invention is not limited to this form, and the transaction execution / display control unit 70 (transaction display control means) may be configured to display correction necessity input information on the presentation device DS, which prompts the occupant to correct the gazed event (visually recognized object determined to have a high interest level). This makes it possible to perform correction processing to determine whether the determined gazed event is truly of high interest to the occupant. [Explanation of symbols]
[0071] CTL control unit 10. Gaze detection unit 20 Gaze determination section 30 Interest level determination unit 40 Driving load determination unit 50 Driving condition determination unit 60 Vehicle control unit 70 Transaction processing / display control unit
Claims
1. A visually recognized object detection means for detecting a visually recognized object recognized by a driver who drives a vehicle; an interest level determination means for determining a driver's interest level in the detected visually recognized object; a transaction display control means for displaying information on the viewed object determined to have a high interest level on a display means while the vehicle is traveling, and automatically presenting details of a transaction process related to the viewed object; A driving load detection means for detecting a driving load of the driver, the interest level determination means varies a determination threshold for determining the driver's interest level according to a driving situation based on vehicle speed information of the vehicle; the transaction display control means stores information about the viewed object without presenting the transaction process to the driver in response to the detected driving load. Vehicle control device.
2. A driving condition detection means for detecting a driving condition of the vehicle is further provided, The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the transaction display control means limits the presentation of the transaction process depending on a detected driving condition of the vehicle.
3. A vehicle control unit that controls the driving of the vehicle is further provided. The vehicle control device according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle control unit limits the driving operation of the vehicle by the driver by switching at least a portion of the drive control to automatic driving during at least a period while the transaction process is being presented.
4. The vehicle control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the transaction display control means displays correction necessity input information prompting a user to indicate whether or not correction is necessary for the viewed object determined to have a high level of interest.
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