Notification control device and notification control method

Abstract

The purpose of the present disclosure is to notify a passenger outside of a vehicle that a dangerous situation has been created in the area around a target vehicle in which an in-vehicle passenger is present. A notification control device (101) according to the present disclosure comprises an in-vehicle passenger determination unit (11), a danger determination unit (12), and a notification control unit (13). When at least one passenger of a plurality of passengers riding in a target vehicle (V) has exited the vehicle and become a passenger outside of the vehicle, the in-vehicle passenger determination unit (11) determines whether any other passengers remain inside the target vehicle (V). If an in-vehicle passenger, which is another passenger remaining inside the target vehicle (V), is present, the danger determination unit (12) determines whether a dangerous situation is occurring in the area around the target vehicle (V). If the danger determination unit (12) has determined that a dangerous situation is occurring, the notification control unit (13) communicates wirelessly with a communication terminal of the passenger outside of the vehicle to provide outside-vehicle notification, which is notification to the passenger outside of the vehicle that a dangerous situation has occurred.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a technique for notifying people involved in a vehicle that a danger has occurred in the vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] There is a need to notify a person outside the vehicle, such as the owner of the vehicle or a passenger who is temporarily away from the vehicle, of information regarding the passengers on board the vehicle or the safety of the vehicle.

[0003] In this regard, Patent Document 1 discloses an in-vehicle device that transmits information on the safety of occupants to an information receiving device outside the vehicle when the occupants encounter a disaster while traveling in the vehicle. Also, a vehicle theft alarm device that detects a situation in which an unoccupied parked vehicle is about to be harmed and reports the situation to the outside of the vehicle has already been realized. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-085808 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the above-mentioned conventional technology does not take into account the case where some occupants leave the vehicle while other occupants remain inside the vehicle. Hereinafter, the occupants who leave the vehicle are referred to as "occupants outside the vehicle" and the occupants who remain inside the vehicle are referred to as "occupants inside the vehicle". In the conventional technology, when the occupants inside the vehicle are in danger from outside the vehicle, it is not possible to notify the occupants outside the vehicle of this. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is not possible to alleviate the anxiety of the occupants outside the vehicle regarding the safety of the occupants inside the vehicle.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to notify occupants outside the vehicle that a dangerous situation has occurred around a target vehicle in which occupants are present. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present disclosure One The notification control device includes an in-vehicle occupant determination unit that determines whether or not there are any other occupants remaining in the target vehicle when at least one occupant among a plurality of occupants aboard the target vehicle leaves the vehicle and becomes an outside occupant, a danger determination unit that determines whether or not a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle when there is an inside occupant who is the other occupant remaining in the target vehicle, and determines a degree of danger based on a cause of the dangerous situation and a distance from the target vehicle when it is determined that a dangerous situation has occurred, and a notification control unit that performs an outside-vehicle notification, which is a notification to the outside occupant that a dangerous situation has occurred, by wireless communication with a communication terminal of the outside occupant when it is determined that a dangerous situation has occurred by the danger determination unit. The notification control unit determines whether or not to perform a vehicle outside notification and the contents of the vehicle outside notification according to the degree of danger. When the notification control unit does not receive feedback information from the communication terminal of the vehicle occupant outside the vehicle indicating that the previous vehicle outside notification has been confirmed, the notification control unit performs the vehicle outside notification again, and the contents of the vehicle outside notification include the frequency of the vehicle outside notification. . Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the notification control device of the present disclosure, When the risk determination unit determines that a dangerous situation has occurred, the risk determination unit determines the risk level based on the cause of the dangerous situation and the distance from the target vehicle, and the notification control unit performs an outside-vehicle notification that notifies the outside-vehicle occupant that a dangerous situation has occurred by wirelessly communicating with the communication terminal of the outside-vehicle occupant. Thus, according to the notification control device of the present disclosure, the outside-vehicle occupant can receive an outside-vehicle notification according to the risk level. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a notification control device according to a first embodiment. [Diagram 2] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification control device of the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a notification control device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 4] 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of a notification control device according to a second embodiment. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of risk levels for each risk factor. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the distance to a target vehicle and the degree of risk. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an outside-vehicle notification in the second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an outside-vehicle notification in the second embodiment. [Figure 9]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an outside-vehicle notification in the second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a notification control device according to a third embodiment. [Figure 11] 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of a notification control device of the third embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the relationship between the behavior of a vehicle occupant and the recognition degree. [Figure 13] 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an outside-vehicle notification mode according to a recognition level and a risk level. FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an outside-vehicle notification in the third embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an outside-vehicle notification in the third embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a notification control device according to a fourth embodiment. [Figure 17] 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of a notification control device according to the fourth embodiment. [Figure 18] 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a notification mode outside the vehicle and a notification mode inside the vehicle according to a recognition level and a risk level. FIG. [Figure 19] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an in-vehicle notification. [Figure 20] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an in-vehicle notification. [Figure 21] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an in-vehicle notification. [Figure 22] FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a notification control device according to a fifth embodiment. [Diagram 23] 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of a notification control device according to the fifth embodiment. [Figure 24] 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating an example of a warning operation by an occupant outside the vehicle. [Diagram 25] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a warning against a risk factor. [Figure 26] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a warning against a risk factor. [Figure 27] FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a notification control device according to a sixth embodiment. [Figure 28] 20 is a flowchart showing the operation of a notification control device according to the sixth embodiment. [Figure 29] This is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the notification control device. [Diagram 30] This is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the notification control device. [Diagram 31] This is a diagram showing a configuration example of the notification control device by the target vehicle and the server.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] <A. Embodiment 1> <A-1. Configuration> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the notification control device 101 according to Embodiment 1. The notification control device 101 detects that at least one passenger has left the vehicle leaving other passengers behind from a vehicle in which a plurality of passengers are on board, and then, when it detects that a dangerous situation has occurred around the vehicle, notifies the passenger who has left the vehicle to that effect. In this specification, a passenger who has left the vehicle is referred to as an off-vehicle passenger, and a passenger remaining in the vehicle is referred to as an on-vehicle passenger. Also, the notification from the notification control device 101 to the off-vehicle passenger is referred to as an off-vehicle notification. Further, the vehicle targeted by the notification control device 101 to detect the surrounding dangerous situation is referred to as the target vehicle, and other vehicles are referred to as non-target vehicles. The detection of the dangerous situation and the off-vehicle notification by the notification control device 101 are also referred to as monitoring.

[0011] In FIG. 1, the notification control device 101 is mounted on the target vehicle V. However, the notification control device 101 may be configured by any combination of an in-vehicle device mounted on the target vehicle V, a server provided outside the target vehicle V, and a passenger's mobile terminal brought into the target vehicle V.

[0012] The notification control device 101 is connected to an in-vehicle information acquisition device 51, a surrounding information acquisition device 52, and a communication device 53, and is configured to be able to use these. The in-vehicle information acquisition device 51, the surrounding information acquisition device 52, and the communication device 53 are mounted on the target vehicle V.

[0013] The in-vehicle information acquisition device 51 acquires in-vehicle information of the target vehicle V. The in-vehicle information is information relating to the interior of the target vehicle V, and includes information used to detect changes in the occupants inside the target vehicle V. When the in-vehicle information includes captured images of the occupants inside the vehicle, the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51 is mounted on the target vehicle V and is configured to include an imaging device that captures images of the interior of the vehicle. When the in-vehicle information includes detection information from a seat occupancy sensor, the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51 is configured to include a seat occupancy sensor of the target vehicle V.

[0014] The peripheral information acquisition device 52 acquires peripheral information of the target vehicle V. The peripheral information of the target vehicle V is information relating to the periphery of the target vehicle V, i.e., the outside of the vehicle, and includes information used to detect the occurrence of a dangerous situation in the periphery of the target vehicle V. When the peripheral information of the target vehicle V includes captured images of the periphery of the target vehicle V, the peripheral information acquisition device 52 is configured to include an imaging device mounted on the target vehicle V that captures images of the periphery of the target vehicle V. In this case, the periphery of the target vehicle V may be, for example, a range captured by an imaging device provided in the peripheral information acquisition device 52.

[0015] The communication device 53 performs wireless communication with a communication terminal 61 outside the target vehicle V. The communication terminal 61 is a terminal that can be used by an occupant outside the vehicle, and is typically a portable terminal such as a smartphone or a wearable terminal carried by the occupant outside the vehicle.

[0016] The notification control device 101 is configured to include an in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11, a danger determination unit 12, and a notification control unit 13. The in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 determines whether or not there is an occupant in the target vehicle V by using the in-vehicle information acquired from the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51. The determination of whether or not there is an occupant in the target vehicle V is referred to as in-vehicle occupant determination.

[0017] The risk determination unit 12 determines whether or not a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V, using the surrounding information acquired from the surrounding information acquisition device 52. The determination of whether or not a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V is referred to as risk determination.

[0018] The notification control unit 13 determines whether to perform a notification to an occupant outside the vehicle, i.e., an external notification, based on the results of the in-vehicle occupant determination and the danger determination. When performing an external notification, the notification control unit 13 determines the content of the notification and causes the communication device 53 to execute wireless communication with the communication terminal 61 based on the determined content. By the communication device 53 performing wireless communication with the communication terminal 61 according to the control of the notification control unit 13, the content of the notification is transmitted to the communication terminal 61. As a result, the occupant outside the vehicle can confirm the content of the notification via the communication terminal 61.

[0019] In FIG. 1, the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51 and the surrounding information acquisition device 52 are shown as configurations separate from the notification control device 101. However, the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51 and the surrounding information acquisition device 52 may be included in the notification control device 101. Specifically, the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51 and the surrounding information acquisition device 52 may be included in the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 and the danger determination unit 12, respectively.

[0020] The communication device 53 is not limited to a device constantly mounted on the target vehicle V, and may be, for example, a portable communication terminal owned by an occupant. Further, the communication device 53 may be external to the target vehicle V, such as a communication infrastructure installed on the road.

[0021] <A-2. Operation> FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification control device 101 according to Embodiment 1. Hereinafter, the operation of the notification control device 101 will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The notification control device 101 determines whether to start monitoring when the target vehicle V is stopped with at least one occupant on board (step S101). The monitoring by the notification control device 101 is executed, for example, when the driver of the target vehicle V temporarily leaves the target vehicle V at a rest stop during driving and family members taking a rest remain in the vehicle of the target vehicle V. In this case, the driver of the target vehicle V is an occupant outside the vehicle, and the family members taking a rest in the vehicle are occupants inside the vehicle.

[0022] An occupant outside the vehicle may use an input device not shown in Fig. 1 to input a command to start watching to the notification control device 101. In this case, the notification control device 101 starts watching upon receiving the command to start watching.

[0023] In addition, the notification control device 101 may automatically start monitoring when it detects that at least one occupant has dismounted from the target vehicle V and gone outside the vehicle. In this case, the notification control device 101 can detect that an occupant has dismounted from the target vehicle V based on the in-vehicle information acquired from the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51. Here, the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51 includes, for example, a camera that captures the interior of the target vehicle V, a radio wave sensor that transmits radio waves inside the vehicle, or a seating sensor provided on the seat. The in-vehicle radio wave sensor measures the distance to an object inside the vehicle by transmitting radio waves inside the target vehicle V and receiving the reflected waves with an antenna. The notification control device 101 can detect the opening and closing of the door of the target vehicle V or the reduction in the number of occupants inside the vehicle based on the measurement information of the radio wave sensor, and can determine that an occupant has dismounted from the target vehicle V based on these. In addition, the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51 may be a proximity sensor that detects a communication terminal held by an occupant of the target vehicle V.

[0024] The notification control device 101 repeats step S101 until it determines to start watching. When it determines to start watching in step S101, the notification control device 101 proceeds to the process of step S102.

[0025] In step S102, the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 performs an in-vehicle occupant determination as to whether or not there is an occupant in the vehicle based on the in-vehicle information acquired from the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51. The in-vehicle information used here is the same as the in-vehicle information described above in the explanation of step S101. If the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 determines that there is no occupant in the vehicle (No in step S102), monitoring ends. On the other hand, if the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 determines that there is an occupant in the vehicle (Yes in step S102), the processing of the notification control device 101 proceeds to step S103.

[0026] In step S103, the danger determination unit 12 performs a danger determination as to whether a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V based on the surrounding information acquired from the surrounding information acquisition device 52. Here, the surrounding information acquisition device 52 includes an imaging device that images the periphery of the target vehicle V, a radio wave sensor that transmits radio waves to the periphery of the target vehicle V, and the like. When the danger determination unit 12 determines that there is no dangerous situation (No in step S103), the monitoring ends. On the other hand, when the danger determination unit 12 determines that there is a dangerous situation (Yes in step S103), the process of the notification control device 101 proceeds to step S104.

[0027] In step S104, the notification control unit 13 determines the content of the notification to the vehicle occupants outside the vehicle, and executes an external notification by causing the communication device 53 to transmit the determined notification content to the communication terminal 61. The vehicle occupants outside the vehicle confirm the external notification via the communication terminal 61 when the notification content is output on the communication terminal 61 that has received the notification from the communication device 53.

[0028] After step S104, the notification control device 101 determines whether to end the monitoring (step S105). If the notification control device 101 determines not to end the monitoring, the process returns to the process of step S103. If the notification control device 101 determines to end the monitoring, the monitoring ends.

[0029] The vehicle occupants outside the vehicle may input an end command for the monitoring to the notification control device 101 using an input device (not shown in FIG. 1). In this case, the notification control device 101 receives the end command for the monitoring and ends the monitoring.

[0030] Further, when the notification control device 101 detects that the vehicle occupants outside the vehicle have returned to the target vehicle V and boarded, the notification control device 101 may automatically end the monitoring. In this case, the notification control device 101 can detect that the vehicle occupants outside the vehicle have returned to the target vehicle V and boarded based on the in-vehicle information acquired from the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51.

[0031] <A-3. Effect> When at least one of the plurality of passengers on the target vehicle V gets out of the vehicle and becomes an out-of-vehicle passenger, the notification control device 101 includes an in-vehicle passenger determination unit 11 that determines whether there are other passengers remaining in the target vehicle V, and when there are in-vehicle passengers who are other passengers remaining in the target vehicle V, a danger determination unit 12 that determines whether a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V, and when the danger determination unit 12 determines that a dangerous situation has occurred, a notification control unit 13 that performs an out-of-vehicle notification, which is a notification to the out-of-vehicle passenger that a dangerous situation has occurred, by performing wireless communication with the communication terminal of the out-of-vehicle passenger. Therefore, the out-of-vehicle passenger can receive a notification when a danger approaches from outside the vehicle to the in-vehicle passengers, and thus can safely perform errands outside the vehicle. Also, compared to a system where the out-of-vehicle passenger checks the situation inside the vehicle one by one, or a system that periodically notifies the out-of-vehicle passenger of the situation inside the vehicle, the out-of-vehicle passenger is not bothered by frequent notifications randomly.

[0032] <B. Embodiment 2> <B-1. Configuration> FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the notification control device 102 according to Embodiment 2. The notification control device 102 has the same configuration as the notification control device 101. In the notification control device 102, the danger determination unit 12 not only performs a danger determination but also determines the degree of danger of the occurred dangerous situation. And the notification control unit 13 determines the content of the out-of-vehicle notification according to the degree of danger of the dangerous situation.

[0033] <B-2. Operation> FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification control device 102 according to Embodiment 2. Hereinafter, the operation of the notification control device 102 will be described along the flowchart of FIG. 4. Steps S201 - S203 in FIG. 4 are the same as steps S101 - S103 in FIG. 2. When the danger determination unit 12 determines that a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V based on the surrounding information acquired from the surrounding information acquisition device 52 (Yes in step S203), it determines the degree of danger of the dangerous situation (step S204).

[0034] Next, the notification control unit 13 determines the contents of the outside-vehicle notification according to the degree of danger of the dangerous situation (step S205), and executes the outside-vehicle notification (step S206).

[0035] The notification control unit 13 also determines whether or not the outside vehicle occupant has confirmed the outside vehicle notification (step S207). For example, when the outside vehicle occupant has confirmed the outside vehicle notification, feedback information is transmitted from the communication terminal 61 to the communication device 53. The notification control unit 13 can determine that the outside vehicle occupant has confirmed the outside vehicle notification based on this feedback information.

[0036] When the notification control unit 13 does not obtain feedback information within a predetermined period of time from the implementation of the outside-vehicle notification in step S206, it determines that the outside-vehicle occupant has not confirmed the outside-vehicle notification (No in step S207), and performs a re-notification (step S208). Here, the notification control unit 13 may change the notification mode of the re-notification from that of the initial notification. For example, if the communication terminal 61 is set to output a sound or vibration when receiving an outside-vehicle notification, the notification control unit 13 may make the sound or vibration of the communication terminal 61 louder at the time of the re-notification than at the time of the initial notification, or change the type of sound or vibration to one that is more noticeable.

[0037] After the re-notification, the notification control unit 13 determines whether or not the outside vehicle occupant has acknowledged the re-notification (step S207). If the notification control unit 13 does not obtain feedback information from the communication terminal 61 within a predetermined period of time after the re-notification, it determines that the outside vehicle occupant has not acknowledged the re-notification (No in step S207) and issues a second re-notification (step S208). In this way, the notification control unit 13 repeats the outside vehicle notification until the outside vehicle occupant acknowledges it. The notification control unit 13 may shorten the time for waiting for feedback information from the communication terminal 61 in step S207 each time the outside vehicle notification is issued, thereby shortening the time interval between outside vehicle notifications.

[0038] When the notification control unit 13 determines in step S207 that the outside vehicle occupant has confirmed the outside vehicle notification, the notification control device 102 determines whether or not to end the monitoring (step S209). Step S209 is similar to step S105 in Fig. 2. If the notification control device 102 determines not to end the monitoring, it returns to the processing of step S203, and if it determines to end the monitoring, it ends the monitoring.

[0039] Next, a description will be given of the determination of the risk level by the risk determination unit 12. Fig. 5 illustrates an example of the risk level for each type of risk factor, namely, a person, an untargeted vehicle, an animal, and a disaster. In Fig. 5, the risk level is 1, which is the lowest, and 5, which is the highest.

[0040] The danger level of a person will be described. When a person is within a predetermined distance from the target vehicle V, the danger determination unit 12 determines that a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V. In this case, the risk factor is a person. Based on the surrounding information acquired from the surrounding information acquisition device 52, the danger determination unit 12 determines the behavior, belongings, and contact with the target vehicle V of the person who is a risk factor, and determines the danger level based on the above as follows. First, when the person who is a risk factor does not behave erratically and is simply a passerby, the danger determination unit 12 determines the danger level as 1. When the person who is a risk factor gazes at the target vehicle V and continuously wanders around the target vehicle V without leaving the target vehicle V, the danger determination unit 12 determines the danger level as 2. When the person who is a risk factor looks into the interior of the target vehicle V, the danger determination unit 12 determines the danger level as 3. When the person who is a risk factor carries a dangerous object such as a handgun or a knife, the danger determination unit 12 determines the danger level as 4. When a person who is a risk factor comes into contact with the target vehicle V and takes harmful actions such as hitting the target vehicle V, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level as 5. In this way, when a factor of a dangerous situation is a person in the vicinity of the target vehicle V, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level based on at least one of the behavior, line of sight, and belongings of the person.

[0041] Next, the risk level of a non-target vehicle will be described. When a non-target vehicle is present within a predetermined distance from the target vehicle V, the risk determination unit 12 detects the occurrence of a dangerous situation and determines that the risk factor is a non-target vehicle. Based on the surrounding information acquired from the surrounding information acquisition device 52, the risk determination unit 12 determines the behavior of the non-target vehicle and the occupants of the non-target vehicle, and determines the risk level based on the above as follows. First, when the non-target vehicle is stopped and unmanned, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level as 1. When the non-target vehicle is a manned vehicle and approaches the target vehicle V and stops, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level as 2. When the non-target vehicle is a manned vehicle and its occupant is looking into the interior of the target vehicle V, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level as 3. When a suspicious radio signal is transmitted from the non-target vehicle, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level as 4. When the non-target vehicle is in contact with the target vehicle, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level to be 5. In this way, when the cause of a dangerous situation is a non-target vehicle in the vicinity of the target vehicle V, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level based on at least one of the line of sight of a person riding in the non-target vehicle and the radio signal received from the non-target vehicle.

[0042] Next, the danger level of animals will be described. When an animal is present within a predetermined distance from the target vehicle V, the danger determination unit 12 detects the occurrence of a dangerous situation and determines that the risk factor is an animal. The danger determination unit 12 determines the type of animal based on the surrounding information acquired from the surrounding information acquisition device 52, and determines the danger level according to the type of animal. For example, the danger determination unit 12 determines the danger level in the order of increasing for large wild animals, medium-sized wild animals, medium-sized animals, small animals, and small insects.

[0043] Next, the risk of disasters will be described. When the risk factor is a disaster, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk according to the type of disaster. For example, the risk determination unit 12 determines rain as risk level 1, heavy snow as risk level 2, earthquake or fire as risk level 3, sudden flooding as risk level 4, and typhoon or tornado as risk level 5.

[0044] Although an example of dividing the risk into five levels has been described with reference to FIG. 5, the risk determination unit 12 may divide the risk into more detailed levels for determination.

[0045] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the relationship between the distance of the target vehicle V and the risk level. The risk determination unit 12 may determine the risk level based on the distance between the target vehicle V and the risk factor as shown in FIG. 6. The risk determination unit 12 can obtain the distance between the target vehicle V and the risk factor from the surrounding information acquisition device 52 such as an outside-vehicle camera or an outside-vehicle radio wave sensor. The dashed line in FIG. 6 represents a threshold value for the risk level of the distance L between the target vehicle V and the risk factor. If the distance L is longer than 10 m, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level as 1. If the distance L is longer than 2 m and equal to or less than 10 m, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level as 2. If the distance L is longer than 1 m and equal to or less than 2 m, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level as 3. If the distance L is equal to or less than 1 m, the risk determination unit 12 determines the risk level as 4. Here, the threshold value of the distance L may be changed according to the performance of the outside-vehicle camera or the outside-vehicle radio wave sensor that is the surrounding information acquisition device 52. Furthermore, the threshold value of the distance L may vary depending on the direction from the target vehicle V. For example, the same distance L may be determined to be a higher danger in a direction that is a blind spot for occupants, such as the direction of the pillar, or in the forward direction where the interior of the vehicle can be easily confirmed from outside the vehicle, compared to other directions.

[0046] The notification control unit 13 changes the content of the outside-vehicle notification to one with higher recognizability so that the outside-vehicle occupants are more likely to notice the outside-vehicle notification as the level of danger increases. The recognizability of the outside-vehicle notification increases, for example, as the interval between re-notifications becomes shorter, the frequency of re-notifications becomes higher, and the vibration or sound of the communication terminal 61 becomes louder when the notification is received. Therefore, the notification control unit 13 increases the recognizability of the outside-vehicle notification by changing the above parameters of the outside-vehicle notification according to the level of danger.

[0047] 5 and 6, if a passerby is passing within a distance of more than 2 m and less than 10 m from the target vehicle V, the notification control unit 13 performs an outside-vehicle notification only once, and will not perform an outside-vehicle notification even if the same situation occurs again thereafter. On the other hand, if a person gazing at the target vehicle V is within a distance of more than 2 m and less than 10 m from the target vehicle V, the notification control unit 13 performs a notification every minute until the outside-vehicle occupant confirms the notification. Furthermore, if a person gazing at the target vehicle V is within a distance of more than 1 m and less than 2 m from the target vehicle V, the notification control unit 13 increases the frequency of notifications to every 20 seconds until the outside-vehicle occupant confirms the notification.

[0048] 7 to 9 show examples of notifications to occupants outside the vehicle on the screen of the communication terminal 61. A notification is sent from the communication device 53 to the communication terminal 61 according to the control of the notification control unit 13. When the occupant outside the vehicle performs an operation to check the notification received at the communication terminal 61, images and the like shown in Fig. 7 to 9 are displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 61. In the example of Fig. 7, text 41 relating to a risk factor such as "Someone is looking into the vehicle" is displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 61.

[0049] 8, in addition to the text 41, a real-time image 42 of the surroundings of the target vehicle V is displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 61. The real-time image 42 enables an occupant outside the vehicle to know what kind of person is looking at the target vehicle V.

[0050] 9, in addition to the text 41 and the real-time image 42, an image 43 showing the position of the hazard with respect to the target vehicle V is displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 61. The image 43 shows that the hazard is located to the left front of the target vehicle V.

[0051] In the examples of Figures 7 to 9, the content of the text 41 may be output as voice from a speaker built into the communication terminal 61. The notification illustrated in Figure 8 has a larger amount of information than the notification illustrated in Figure 9, and the notification illustrated in Figure 10 has a larger amount of information than the notification illustrated in Figure 9. The notification control unit 13 may increase the amount of information in the outside-vehicle notification as the level of risk increases.

[0052] When the risk level is low, for example, in the case of risk level 1 in the example of FIG. 5, the outside vehicle notification may not be performed.

[0053] <B-3. Effect> In the notification control device 102 of Embodiment 2, when the risk determination unit 12 determines that a dangerous situation has occurred, it determines the risk level indicating the degree of the dangerous situation, and the notification control unit 13 determines the presence or absence of an outside vehicle notification and the content of the outside vehicle notification according to the risk level. Therefore, according to the notification control device 102, the outside vehicle occupants can receive an outside vehicle notification according to the risk level.

[0054] <C. Embodiment 3> <C-1. Configuration> FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the notification control device 103 of Embodiment 3. The notification control device 103 includes a recognition degree determination unit 14 in addition to the configuration of the notification control device 102 of Embodiment 2. When a dangerous situation occurs around the target vehicle V, the recognition degree determination unit 14 determines the recognition degree indicating to what extent the vehicle occupants recognize the dangerous situation based on the vehicle interior information acquired from the vehicle interior information acquisition device 51.

[0055] When a dangerous situation occurs around the target vehicle V, the notification control unit 13 determines the presence or absence and mode of the outside vehicle notification to the outside vehicle occupants based on both the risk level of the dangerous situation and the recognition degree of the vehicle occupants with respect to the dangerous situation.

[0056] <C-2. Operation> FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification control device 103 of Embodiment 3. Hereinafter, the operation of the notification control device 103 will be described along the flowchart of FIG. 11. Since steps S301 to S304 are the same as steps S201 to S204 in FIG. 4, the description thereof will be omitted.

[0057] After the danger determination unit 12 determines the danger level of the dangerous situation in step S304, the awareness determination unit 14 determines the awareness level of the vehicle occupant of the dangerous situation (step S305). Specifically, the awareness determination unit 14 determines the alertness, state, or gaze direction of the vehicle occupant based on the in-vehicle information acquired from the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51, and determines to what extent the vehicle occupant is aware that a dangerous factor has appeared around the target vehicle V based on the determined levels.

[0058] Next, the notification control unit 13 determines the manner of the notification to the outside vehicle occupants based on both the degree of danger of the dangerous situation and the degree of recognition by the inside vehicle occupants (step S306). Subsequent steps S307 and S308 are similar to steps S206 and S209 in FIG.

[0059] The awareness determination unit 14 determines the awareness of the vehicle occupant of the dangerous situation based on the behavior of the vehicle occupant. FIG. 12 shows the correspondence between the behavior of the vehicle occupant and the awareness. The awareness is lowest at 1 and highest at 4. For example, when the vehicle occupant is taking a nap, the awareness determination unit 14 determines the awareness as 1. When the vehicle occupant is talking or operating a smartphone, the awareness determination unit 14 determines the awareness as 2. When the vehicle occupant is not looking at a dangerous factor but is looking outside the vehicle, the awareness determination unit 14 determines the awareness as 3. When the vehicle occupant is looking at a dangerous factor, the awareness determination unit 14 determines the awareness as 4.

[0060] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a vehicle outside notification mode according to the recognition level and the risk level. In the example of FIG. 13, when the risk level is low at 1 and the recognition level of the vehicle occupant is high at 2 or more, the vehicle outside notification is not performed. When the risk level is 1 and the recognition level is 1, and when the risk level is 2 or more, the vehicle outside situation notification is performed except for the vehicle outside warning notification shown below. When the risk level is 4 or more and the recognition level is 2 or less, and when the risk level is 5, the vehicle outside warning notification is performed. Here, both the vehicle outside situation notification and the vehicle outside warning notification are vehicle outside notifications, but the vehicle outside warning notification is a notification with a higher recognition level than the vehicle outside situation notification. The recognition level of the vehicle outside notification is as described in the second embodiment.

[0061] Figures 14 and 15 show examples of notifications to passengers outside the vehicle on the screen of the communication terminal 61. A notification is transmitted from the communication device 53 to the communication terminal 61 according to the control of the notification control unit 13. When the passenger outside the vehicle performs an operation to confirm the received notification on the communication terminal 61, an image or the like shown in FIG. 14 or FIG. 15 is displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 61. In the example of FIG. 14, text 44 is displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 61. The text 44 includes text related to a risk factor such as "There is someone peeping into the vehicle" and text related to the awareness level of the passenger inside the vehicle such as "The passenger is dozing off". In the example of FIG. 15, in addition to the text 44, a real-time image 45 of the passenger inside the vehicle is displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 61. With the real-time image 45, the passenger outside the vehicle can grasp the state of the passenger inside the vehicle. Thus, according to the outside-vehicle notification of the present embodiment, in addition to the information on the risk factor, the passenger outside the vehicle can also know the information related to the awareness level of the passenger inside the vehicle regarding the dangerous situation. Note that the examples of notifications to the passengers outside the vehicle shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 may be combined with the examples of notifications to the passengers outside the vehicle shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. For example, in addition to the text 44 and the real-time image 45, a real-time image 42 around the target vehicle V or an image 43 representing the position of the risk factor with respect to the target vehicle V may be displayed on the screen of the communication terminal 61.

[0062] <C - 3. Effect> The notification control device 103 of Embodiment 3 includes a recognition degree determination unit 14 that determines the recognition degree of the risk situation of the passenger inside the vehicle based on at least one of the wakefulness, line-of-sight direction, and behavior of the passenger inside the vehicle. The notification control unit 13 determines the presence or absence of an outside-vehicle notification and the content of the outside-vehicle notification according to the recognition degree. Therefore, according to the notification control device 103, it is possible to perform an outside-vehicle notification according to the recognition degree, such as performing an outside-vehicle notification only when the recognition degree of the risk situation of the passenger inside the vehicle is low.

[0063] <D. Embodiment 4> <D - 1. Configuration> FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the notification control device 104 according to the fourth embodiment. The notification control device 104 is connected to an output device 54 in addition to an in-vehicle information acquisition device 51, a surrounding information acquisition device 52, and a communication device 53, and is configured to be able to utilize these. The output device 54 is mounted on the target vehicle V and is used to notify the in-vehicle occupants of the occurrence of a dangerous situation. The notification to the in-vehicle occupants is also referred to as an in-vehicle notification.

[0064] The in-vehicle notification is performed, for example, by any one of display, sound, vibration, or a combination thereof. When the in-vehicle notification is performed by display, the output device 54 includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, or a HUD (Head-Up Display). When the in-vehicle notification is performed by sound, the output device 54 includes a speaker. When the in-vehicle notification is performed by vibration, the output device 54 includes a vibration device provided in the seat of the target vehicle V.

[0065] When a dangerous situation occurs around the target vehicle V, the notification control unit 13 performs an in-vehicle notification in addition to an out-of-vehicle notification according to the degree of danger and the degree of recognition of the in-vehicle occupants.

[0066] <D-2. Operation> FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification control device 104 according to the fourth embodiment. Hereinafter, the operation of the notification control device 104 will be described along the flowchart of FIG. 17. Steps S401 to S407 in FIG. 17 are the same as steps S301 to S307 in FIG. 11, so the description thereof will be omitted.

[0067] After performing the out-of-vehicle notification in step S407, the notification control unit 13 performs the in-vehicle notification in step S408. The subsequent step S409 is the same as step S209 in FIG. 4.

[0068] The in-vehicle notification may be performed based on the degree of danger of a dangerous situation occurring around the target vehicle V and the degree of awareness of the risk factors of the vehicle occupants, similar to the outside-vehicle notification. Fig. 18 illustrates the outside-vehicle notification mode and the inside-vehicle notification mode according to the degree of danger and the awareness degree. The outside-vehicle notification mode is as shown in Fig. 13.

[0069] In the example of Figure 18, if the risk level is 1, no in-vehicle notification is made regardless of the recognition level. If the risk level is 2, an in-vehicle situation notification is made if the recognition level is 1. If the risk level is 3, an in-vehicle situation notification is made if the recognition level is 2 or lower. If the risk level is 4, an in-vehicle situation notification is made if the recognition level is 3 or higher, and an in-vehicle warning notification is made if the recognition level is 2 or lower. If the risk level is 5, an in-vehicle warning notification is made regardless of the recognition level. Here, both the in-vehicle situation notification and the in-vehicle warning notification are in-vehicle notifications, but the in-vehicle warning notification represents a notification with a higher level of recognition than the in-vehicle situation notification.

[0070] In this way, the notification control unit 13 performs control in the direction of providing an in-vehicle notification as the degree of danger increases and as the degree of recognition decreases.

[0071] After issuing the in-vehicle notification, the notification control unit 13 may determine whether the in-vehicle occupant has recognized the danger, and if the occupant has not recognized the danger, issue an in-vehicle notification or an outside-vehicle notification again. In addition, the second in-vehicle notification may have a different content from the first in-vehicle notification.

[0072] 19 to 21 show examples of in-vehicle notification. FIG. 19 shows an example of in-vehicle notification using a display device 62 mounted in the interior of the target vehicle V. On the screen of the display device 62, text 63 saying "There is someone looking into the interior of the vehicle", a real-time image 64 of the periphery of the target vehicle V, and an image 65 showing the position of the risk factor relative to the target vehicle V are displayed. The image 65 shows that there is a risk factor to the left front of the target vehicle V. In addition, simultaneously with the display on the display device 62, a sound such as "There is someone looking into the interior of the vehicle to the left front!" may be output from a speaker mounted in the interior of the target vehicle V.

[0073] FIG. 20 shows an example of in-vehicle notification using the mobile terminal 66 of an in-vehicle occupant. On the screen of the mobile terminal 66, the same text 63, real-time image 64, and image 65 as those displayed on the display device 62 in FIG. 19 are displayed.

[0074] <D-3. Modification Example> When an out-vehicle occupant performs a predetermined operation on the communication terminal 61, the state of the in-vehicle occupant acquired by the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51 may be transmitted from the notification control unit 13 to the communication terminal 61 via the communication device 53. Here, for example, the real-time image 45 of the in-vehicle occupant shown in FIG. 15 may be transmitted to the communication terminal 61. Thereby, the out-vehicle occupant can sequentially monitor the state of the in-vehicle occupant by his / her own operation.

[0075] When the out-vehicle occupant sequentially monitors the state of the in-vehicle occupant, the in-vehicle occupant may be notified that the out-vehicle occupant is viewing the in-vehicle situation from the communication terminal 61 so that the in-vehicle occupant does not have the impression of being secretly photographed. For example, as shown in FIG. 21, after outputting a voice "The out-vehicle occupant has activated the in-vehicle situation view function" from a speaker mounted in the vehicle of the target vehicle V, an image, avatar, or icon of the out-vehicle occupant is displayed on the screen of the display device 62 mounted in the vehicle of the target vehicle V. Thereby, the privacy concern of the in-vehicle occupant is eliminated.

[0076] In the above description, the notification control device 104 automatically performs in-vehicle notification. However, after the out-vehicle occupant receives the out-vehicle notification from the notification control device 104, the in-vehicle notification may be realized by a method of directly calling the in-vehicle occupant. That is, the notification control unit 13 acquires the speech voice of the out-vehicle occupant via the communication terminal 61 and the communication device 53, and outputs the speech voice from a speaker mounted on the target vehicle V which is the output device 54. Thereby, in-vehicle notification is realized by the voice of the out-vehicle occupant. At this time, in addition to the voice of the out-vehicle occupant, an image, avatar, or icon of the out-vehicle occupant as shown in FIG. 21 may be displayed on the screen of the display device 62.

[0077] In addition, when the in-vehicle notification is realized by the speech of the outside occupant to the inside occupant, the speech may be transmitted from the inside occupant to the outside occupant by wireless communication between the communication device 53 and the communication terminal 61. This allows a call between the outside occupant and the inside occupant. In this case, the screens of the communication terminal 61 and the display device 62 mounted in the vehicle of the target vehicle V may be synchronized. For example, the display contents of the above-mentioned outside notification or inside notification are simultaneously displayed on both the communication device 53 and the communication terminal 61. In this case, both the outside occupant and the inside occupant may be able to perform screen operations such as selecting the display contents or enlarging the display. This allows the outside occupant and the inside occupant to have a real-time conversation while sharing an understanding of how much they understand each other's situation. The outside occupant can make an accurate judgment and communicate with the inside occupant by understanding how much the inside occupant is aware of the risk factors around the target vehicle.

[0078] The above describes the outside-vehicle notification to the outside occupants and the inside-vehicle notification to the inside occupants. The notification control device 104 may notify a third party other than the outside occupants and the inside occupants that a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V. This notification to the third party is also called a third-party notification. Here, the third party to which the notification is given is determined in advance, and is assumed to be a service provider in the case where the target vehicle V is a commercial service vehicle, a security service provider, or the like.

[0079] The vehicle occupant may perform an input operation to the notification control device 104 using an input device not shown in FIG. 16, and thereby the functions of the notification control device 104 for the outside notification and the inside notification may be switched off. That is, even if the danger determination unit 12 determines that a dangerous situation has occurred, the notification control unit 13 does not perform the outside notification when it receives an operation input from the vehicle occupant to the effect that the outside notification will not be performed. For example, when the person approaching the target vehicle V is a police officer or an acquaintance of the vehicle occupant, and the vehicle occupant himself / herself checks the safety of the surroundings of the target vehicle V, the above-mentioned functions can be turned off to prevent the outside notification or the inside notification from being performed unnecessarily. Note that the vehicle occupant may be notified to the outside occupant that he / she has checked the safety of the surroundings.

[0080] The process of turning off the functions of the vehicle exterior notification and the vehicle interior notification of the notification control device 104 may be automatically performed by the notification control device 104 itself through situation detection and determination without depending on the input operations of the vehicle occupants as described above. When the functions of the vehicle exterior notification and the vehicle interior notification are automatically turned off, the notification control device 104 may notify the vehicle occupants and the outside vehicle occupants to that effect.

[0081] After the function of the vehicle exterior notification is turned off by the safety confirmation of the vehicle occupants, when the notification control device 104 detects a dangerous situation around the target vehicle V, the functions of the vehicle exterior notification and the vehicle interior notification are automatically switched on.

[0082] The outside vehicle occupants may be able to confirm the generation information of the vehicle exterior notification and the vehicle interior notification, or the history information such as the operation of turning off the functions of the vehicle exterior notification and the vehicle interior notification by the vehicle occupants, using the communication terminal 61.

[0083] <D - 4. Effect> In the notification control device 104 of the fourth embodiment, when it is determined by the danger determination unit 12 that a dangerous situation has occurred, the notification control unit 13 performs a vehicle interior notification, which is a notification to the vehicle occupants that a dangerous situation has occurred, using the output device 54 mounted on the target vehicle V based on the recognition level. Therefore, according to the notification control device 104, it is possible to make the vehicle occupants aware that a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V.

[0084] <E. Fifth Embodiment> <E - 1. Configuration> FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the notification control device 105 of the fifth embodiment. The notification control device 105 is connected to a warning device 55 in addition to the vehicle interior information acquisition device 51, the surrounding information acquisition device 52, and the communication device 53, and is configured to be able to utilize these. The configuration of the notification control device 105 is the same as that of the notification control device 101 of the first embodiment.

[0085] The warning device 55 is mounted on the target vehicle V and, under the control of the notification control unit 13, gives a warning against danger factors existing around the target vehicle V. The warning given by the warning device 55 is also referred to as a peripheral warning. The warning device 55 includes, for example, an LED lamp, a horn, a headlight, a blinker, or a speaker.

[0086] <E-2. Operation> FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification control device 105 according to Embodiment 5. Hereinafter, the operation of the notification control device 105 will be described along the flowchart of FIG. 23. Steps S501 to S506 in FIG. 23 are the same as steps S201 to S206 in FIG. 4, so the description thereof will be omitted.

[0087] After performing the off-vehicle notification in step S506, the notification control unit 13 determines whether there is a warning operation by an off-vehicle occupant in step S507.

[0088] If the notification control unit 13 determines in step S507 that there is no warning operation by an off-vehicle occupant, the process proceeds to the process of step S510. If the notification control unit 13 determines in step S507 that there is a warning operation by an off-vehicle occupant, a peripheral warning against the danger factor is given using the warning device 55 in step S508.

[0089] After step S508, in step S509, the notification control unit 13 determines whether the danger factor has moved away from the target vehicle V based on the peripheral information acquired from the peripheral information acquisition device 52. The notification control unit 13 determines that the danger factor has moved away from the target vehicle V when the distance between the danger factor and the target vehicle V becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined distance.

[0090] If it is determined in step S509 by the notification control unit 13 that the danger factor has not moved away from the target vehicle V, the process of the notification control device 105 returns to step S504.

[0091] In step S509, when the notification control unit 13 determines that the risk factor has moved away from the target vehicle V, the process of the notification control device 105 proceeds to step S510. The process of step S510 is similar to step S209 in FIG.

[0092] Next, a warning operation by an occupant outside the vehicle will be described. Fig. 24 shows a display screen of the communication terminal 61 that has received the outside-vehicle notification. As shown in Fig. 9, the communication terminal 61 displays text 41 related to risk factors such as "Someone is looking into the vehicle", a real-time image 42 of the risk factor, and an image 43 showing the positional relationship between the target vehicle V and the risk factor.

[0093] Furthermore, the communication terminal 61 displays buttons 46-49 for inputting a warning operation to the notification control device 105. Button 46 is a button for instructing the display of a watchman avatar. Button 47 is a button for instructing the output of a warning announcement. Button 48 is a button for instructing the illumination of a spotlight. Button 49 is a button for instructing the output of an alarm sound.

[0094] For example, when an occupant outside the vehicle selects button 46, an instruction to display a lookout avatar is sent from the communication terminal 61 to the communication device 53. The notification control unit 13 acquires this instruction from the communication device 53 and recognizes that a warning operation has been performed by the occupant outside the vehicle. The notification control unit 13 then causes the warning device 55 to display the lookout avatar. In this way, the notification control unit 13 issues a surrounding warning triggered by the operation input to the communication terminal 61 by the occupant outside the vehicle.

[0095] FIG. 25 shows an example of a warning in which a sentry avatar 71 is displayed toward a person who is a risk factor. Here, the warning device 55 is, for example, a HUD that projects an image onto the dashboard of the target vehicle V. The warning device 55 may be, for example, a liquid crystal display device installed on the window of the target vehicle V, which displays an appropriate image toward the outside of the target vehicle V. The warning device 55 may also be a projection device that projects an image onto the window of the target vehicle V. By showing the sentry avatar 71 to a person who is a risk factor, it is expected that the person will hesitate to do something such as harm the target vehicle V.

[0096] It is desirable that the sentry avatar 71 is displayed facing the direction where the hazard exists as seen from the target vehicle V, taking into consideration the positional relationship between the target vehicle V and the hazard. Fig. 25 shows such an example, in which the sentry avatar 71 is displayed on the dashboard of the target vehicle V, i.e., in front of the target vehicle V, so that a person on the left front side of the target vehicle V notices it. This enhances the warning effect. The notification control unit 13 grasps the positional relationship between the target vehicle V and the hazard based on the surrounding information acquired from the surrounding information acquisition device 52, and issues a surrounding warning in the direction where the hazard exists.

[0097] 26 shows an example of a warning in which a spotlight 72 is directed toward a person who is a risk factor. Here, the warning device 55 is an illumination device that illuminates the spotlight 72 in any direction from the target vehicle V. In this way, the notification control unit 13 performs a surrounding warning by outputting any one of an image, a sound, and a spotlight toward the direction of the risk factor.

[0098] As shown in FIG. 24, a plurality of buttons 46-49 for instructing warnings of different contents are displayed on the communication terminal 61. By selecting a desired button 46-49, an outboard passenger can instruct a warning of a desired content from among a plurality of options. Accordingly, the outboard passenger can select a warning corresponding to the dangerous situation around the target vehicle V grasped by the outboard notification. For example, in a situation where the risk level is relatively low, such as when a pedestrian passes by near the target vehicle V, the outboard passenger can select a warning with a relatively low recognition level from the surroundings, such as displaying a lookout avatar or blinking an LED lamp. On the other hand, in a situation where the risk level is high, such as when a pedestrian carrying a dangerous object is peering into the vehicle interior of the target vehicle V, in addition to the above warning operation, a warning sound such as a buzzer sound or the sounding of a horn, or a warning with a higher recognition level from the surroundings, such as lighting of the headlights and turn signals, can be selected. Thus, the content of the surrounding warning can be changed according to the risk level.

[0099] In the above, the presence or absence and content of the warning against the risk factor were determined by the selection operation of the outboard passenger. However, these may be automatically determined by the notification control unit 13 based on the type of risk factor or the risk level of the dangerous situation. When the notification control unit 13 automatically determines to give a warning, it may display a confirmation message such as "Is it okay to give a warning?" on the communication terminal 61 and perform a surrounding warning after receiving the confirmation operation of the outboard passenger.

[0100] In the fourth embodiment, it was explained that a third party such as a service provider is notified that a dangerous situation has occurred. This notification to the third party may be applied to the present embodiment. For example, as a surrounding warning for the risk factor, the notification control unit 13 performs a warning such as "Monitoring the periphery of the vehicle. If there is any abnormality, it will be reported to the security company." in a display or voice. Then, if the risk level of the dangerous situation does not decrease even after that, the notification control unit 13 may notify a third party such as a security service provider that a dangerous situation has occurred.

[0101] <E-3. Effect> In the notification control device 105 according to the fifth embodiment, when the danger determination unit 12 determines that a dangerous situation has occurred, the notification control unit 13 uses the warning device 55 mounted on the target vehicle V to perform a peripheral warning, which is a warning to the periphery of the target vehicle V. Therefore, according to the notification control device 105, when the danger factor is a person, a non-target vehicle, an animal, or the like, an effect of keeping the danger factor away from the target vehicle V can be expected.

[0102] <F. Sixth Embodiment> <F-1. Configuration> FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the notification control device 106 according to the sixth embodiment. The notification control device 106 includes an automatic driving control unit 16 in addition to the configuration of the notification control device 102 according to the second embodiment. Further, the notification control device 106 is connected to an automatic driving device 56 in addition to the in-vehicle information acquisition device 51, the peripheral information acquisition device 52, and the communication device 53, and is configured to be able to use these.

[0103] The automatic driving device 56 is mounted on the target vehicle V and performs automatic driving of the target vehicle V.

[0104] The automatic driving control unit 16 instructs the automatic driving device 56 to drive the target vehicle V in a direction away from the danger factor or in a direction approaching the danger factor to drive it away according to the degree of danger of the dangerous situation or the type of danger factor.

[0105] <F-2. Operation> FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing the operation of the notification control device 106 according to the sixth embodiment. Steps S601 to S606 in FIG. 28 are the same as steps S201 to S206 in FIG. 4, so the description thereof is omitted.

[0106] After the notification control unit 13 performs an out-of-vehicle notification in step S606, in step S607, the automatic driving control unit 16 determines whether an input of an automatic driving operation has been received from an out-of-vehicle occupant.

[0107] In step S607, if there is no input of an automatic driving operation from an external passenger, the process of the notification control device 106 proceeds to step S609. When the automatic driving control unit 16 determines in step S607 that there is an automatic driving operation by an external passenger, it instructs the automatic driving device to perform automatic driving in step S608.

[0108] After that, the process of the notification control device 106 proceeds to step S609. The process of step S609 is the same as step S209 in FIG. 4.

[0109] When the communication terminal 61 receives an external notification from the notification control device 106, it displays information regarding risk factors or information regarding the awareness level of the vehicle occupants, and also displays, for example, an automatic driving operation button. When an external passenger selects the automatic driving operation button, input information of the automatic driving operation is transmitted from the communication terminal 61 to the communication device 53.

[0110] Note that an external passenger may remotely control the travel of the target vehicle V using the communication terminal 61.

[0111] Further, instead of controlling the automatic driving of the target vehicle V, the automatic driving control unit 16 may control a self-driving robot or a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) provided in the target vehicle V. That is, the automatic driving control unit 16 causes the self-driving robot or the UAV to perform behaviors such as driving away risk factors or intimidating.

[0112] In the above description, the automatic driving control unit 16 received an automatic driving operation by an external passenger and instructed the automatic driving device to perform automatic driving. However, the automatic driving control unit 16 may perform an automatic driving operation based on the operation of a vehicle occupant or its own determination.

[0113] <F-3. Effect> In the notification control device 106 according to the sixth embodiment, the target vehicle V can be automatically driven by the automatic driving device 56. When the risk determination unit 12 determines that a dangerous situation has occurred, the notification control device 106 includes an automatic driving control unit 16 that moves the target vehicle to the automatic driving device 56. Therefore, according to the notification control device 106, when a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V, it is possible to move away from the risk factors or drive away the risk factors by automatically driving the target vehicle V.

[0114] <H. Hardware Configuration> In the above-described notification control devices 101-106, the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11, the risk determination unit 12, the notification control unit 13, the awareness determination unit 14, and the automatic driving control unit 16 are realized by the processing circuit 81 shown in FIG. 29. That is, the processing circuit 81 includes an in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11, a risk determination unit 12, a notification control unit 13, an awareness determination unit 14, and an automatic driving control unit 16 (hereinafter referred to as "in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11, etc."). For the processing circuit 81, dedicated hardware may be applied, or a processor that executes a program stored in a memory may be applied. The processor is, for example, a central processing unit, a processing device, an arithmetic device, a microprocessor, a microcomputer, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), or the like.

[0115] When the processing circuit 81 is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit 81 corresponds to, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof. The functions of each unit such as the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 may be realized by a plurality of processing circuits 81, or the functions of each unit may be realized by one processing circuit collectively.

[0116] When the processing circuit 81 is a processor, the functions of the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 and the like are realized by a combination of software, etc. (software, firmware, or software and firmware). The software, etc. are written as a program and stored in a memory. As shown in FIG. 30, the processor 82 applied to the processing circuit 81 realizes the functions of each unit by reading and executing a program stored in the memory 83. That is, when executed by the processing circuit 81, the notification control device 101-106 includes a memory 83 for storing a program that results in the execution of the following steps: when at least one occupant among a plurality of occupants aboard the target vehicle V has left the vehicle and become an outside occupant; when there is an inside occupant who is the other occupant remaining in the target vehicle V, a step of determining whether a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle V; and when it is determined that a dangerous situation has occurred, a step of performing an outside notification, which is a notification to the outside occupant that a dangerous situation has occurred, by wireless communication with the communication terminal 61 of the outside occupant. In other words, this program can be said to cause a computer to execute the procedure or method of the vehicle occupant determination unit 11, etc. Here, the memory 83 may be, for example, a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a flash memory, an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, a digital versatile disk (DVD) and a drive device thereof, or any storage medium to be used in the future.

[0117] The above describes a configuration in which the functions of the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 and the like are realized either in hardware or software, etc. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a configuration in which a part of the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 and the like is realized by dedicated hardware and another part is realized by software, etc. For example, the function of the in-vehicle occupant determination unit 11 can be realized by a processing circuit as dedicated hardware, and the other functions can be realized by the processing circuit 81 as the processor 82 reading and executing a program stored in the memory 83.

[0118] As described above, the processing circuitry can realize the above-mentioned functions by hardware, software, or a combination of these.

[0119] Furthermore, although the notification control device 101-106 has been described above as an in-vehicle device, it can also be applied to a system constructed as a system by appropriately combining a PND (Portable Navigation Device), a communication terminal (e.g., a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, or a tablet), the functions of applications installed thereon, a server, etc. In this case, each function or each component of the notification control device 101-106 described above may be distributed and disposed in each device that constructs the system, or may be concentrated in one of the devices.

[0120] 31 shows a configuration example of a notification control device 101 including a target vehicle V and a server S. In the example of FIG. 31, the vehicle occupant determination unit 11 and the danger determination unit 12 of the notification control device 101 are arranged in the server S, and the notification control unit 13 is arranged in the target vehicle V.

[0121] In addition, each embodiment can be freely combined, and each embodiment can be appropriately modified or omitted. The above description is an example in all respects. It is understood that countless modified examples not illustrated can be assumed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0122] 11 Vehicle occupant determination unit, 12 Danger determination unit, 13 Notification control unit, 14 Awareness determination unit, 16 Automatic driving control unit, 51 Vehicle information acquisition device, 52 Surrounding information acquisition device, 53 Communication device, 54 Output device, 55 Warning device, 56 Automatic driving device, 61 Communication terminal, 62 Display device, 66 Mobile terminal, 101-106 Notification control device, V Target vehicle.

Claims

1. an in-vehicle occupant determination unit that, when at least one occupant among a plurality of occupants riding in the target vehicle leaves the vehicle and becomes an outside occupant, determines whether or not other occupants remain in the target vehicle; a danger determination unit that, when there is another occupant remaining in the target vehicle, determines whether or not a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle, and, when it is determined that the dangerous situation has occurred, determines a degree of danger based on a cause of the dangerous situation and a distance from the target vehicle; a notification control unit that, when it is determined by the danger determination unit that the dangerous situation has occurred, performs a vehicle outside notification, which is a notification to the vehicle outside occupant that the dangerous situation has occurred, by wireless communication with a communication terminal of the vehicle outside occupant, The notification control unit determines whether or not to provide the outside-vehicle notification and the content of the outside-vehicle notification according to the degree of risk, The notification control unit performs the vehicle outside notification again when feedback information indicating that the previously performed vehicle outside notification has been confirmed is not received from the communication terminal of the vehicle outside occupant. The content of the outside-vehicle notification includes the frequency of the outside-vehicle notification. Notification control device.

2. An in-vehicle occupant determination unit that, when at least one occupant among a plurality of occupants riding in a target vehicle leaves the vehicle and becomes an outside occupant, determines whether or not other occupants remain in the target vehicle; a danger determination unit that, when there is another occupant remaining in the target vehicle, determines whether or not a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle, and, when it is determined that the dangerous situation has occurred, determines a degree of danger based on a cause of the dangerous situation and a distance from the target vehicle; a notification control unit that, when it is determined by the danger determination unit that the dangerous situation has occurred, performs a vehicle outside notification, which is a notification to the vehicle outside occupant that the dangerous situation has occurred, by wireless communication with a communication terminal of the vehicle outside occupant, a recognition degree determining unit that determines a recognition degree of the vehicle occupant of the dangerous situation based on at least one of a wakefulness level, a line of sight direction, and a behavior of the vehicle occupant, The notification control unit determines whether or not to provide the outside-vehicle notification and the content of the outside-vehicle notification according to the degree of recognition. Notification control device.

3. When the risk determination unit determines that the dangerous situation has occurred, the notification control unit performs an in-vehicle notification, which is a notification to the vehicle occupant that the dangerous situation has occurred, based on the recognition degree, using an output device mounted in the target vehicle. The notification control device according to claim 2 .

4. The in-vehicle notification is performed by a voice uttered by the outside vehicle occupant. The notification control device according to claim 3 .

5. The notification control unit performs wireless communication with a communication device of a predetermined third party other than the outside occupant and the inside occupant of the vehicle, thereby performing a third party notification that is a notification to the third party that the dangerous situation has occurred. The notification control device according to claim 1 .

6. The notification control unit does not issue the vehicle outside notification when an operation input from the vehicle occupant indicating that the vehicle outside notification will not be issued is received even if the danger determination unit determines that the dangerous situation has occurred. The notification control device according to claim 1 .

7. The notification control unit, when it is determined by the danger determination unit that the dangerous situation has occurred, issues a surrounding warning, which is a warning to the surroundings of the target vehicle, using a warning device mounted on the target vehicle. The notification control device according to claim 1 .

8. The notification control unit issues the surrounding warning in response to an operation input by the occupant outside the vehicle to the communication terminal. The notification control device according to claim 7 .

9. The content of the surrounding warning changes depending on the degree of danger. The notification control device according to claim 7 .

10. An in-vehicle occupant determination unit that, when at least one of a plurality of occupants aboard a target vehicle leaves the vehicle and becomes an outside occupant, determines whether or not other occupants remain in the target vehicle; a danger determination unit that, when there is another occupant remaining in the target vehicle, determines whether or not a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle, and, when it is determined that the dangerous situation has occurred, determines a degree of danger based on a cause of the dangerous situation and a distance from the target vehicle; a notification control unit that, when it is determined by the danger determination unit that the dangerous situation has occurred, performs a vehicle outside notification, which is a notification to the vehicle outside occupant that the dangerous situation has occurred, by wireless communication with a communication terminal of the vehicle outside occupant, The notification control unit determines whether or not to provide the outside-vehicle notification and the content of the outside-vehicle notification according to the degree of risk, When the risk determination unit determines that the dangerous situation has occurred, the notification control unit issues a surrounding warning, which is a warning to the surroundings of the target vehicle, using a warning device mounted on the target vehicle, The notification control unit performs the peripheral warning by outputting any one of an image, a sound, and a spotlight toward a direction of a cause of the dangerous situation. Notification control device.

11. The target vehicle is capable of being automatically driven by an automatic driving device, and an automatic driving control unit that causes the automatic driving device to move the target vehicle when the danger determination unit determines that the dangerous situation has occurred. The notification control device according to claim 1 .

12. an in-vehicle occupant determination unit that, when at least one occupant among a plurality of occupants riding in the target vehicle leaves the vehicle and becomes an outside occupant, determines whether or not other occupants remain in the target vehicle; a danger determination unit that determines whether or not a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle when there is another vehicle occupant remaining in the target vehicle; a recognition degree determining unit that determines a recognition degree of the vehicle occupant of the dangerous situation based on at least one of a wakefulness level, a line of sight direction, and a behavior of the vehicle occupant, a notification control unit that, when it is determined by the danger determination unit that the dangerous situation has occurred, performs an outside-vehicle notification to notify the outside-vehicle occupant that the dangerous situation has occurred by wirelessly communicating with a communication terminal of the outside-vehicle occupant, and determines whether or not to perform the outside-vehicle notification and the content of the outside-vehicle notification according to the degree of recognition. Notification control device.

13. When at least one occupant among a plurality of occupants in the target vehicle exits the vehicle and becomes an outside occupant, it is determined whether or not any other occupant remains in the target vehicle; When there is another occupant remaining in the target vehicle, it is determined whether or not a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle, and when it is determined that the dangerous situation has occurred, it is determined the degree of danger based on the cause of the dangerous situation and the distance from the target vehicle; When it is determined that the dangerous situation has occurred, a vehicle outside notification is performed to notify the vehicle outside occupant that the dangerous situation has occurred by wirelessly communicating with a communication terminal of the vehicle outside occupant. determining whether to provide the outside-vehicle notification and the contents of the outside-vehicle notification according to the degree of risk; When feedback information indicating that the previously performed outside-vehicle notification has been confirmed is not received from the communication terminal of the outside-vehicle occupant, the outside-vehicle notification is performed again; The content of the outside-vehicle notification includes the frequency of the outside-vehicle notification. Notification control methods.

14. When at least one occupant among a plurality of occupants in a target vehicle exits the vehicle and becomes an outside occupant, it is determined whether or not other occupants remain in the target vehicle, When there is another occupant remaining in the target vehicle, it is determined whether or not a dangerous situation has occurred around the target vehicle, and when it is determined that the dangerous situation has occurred, it is determined the degree of danger based on the cause of the dangerous situation and the distance from the target vehicle; When it is determined that the dangerous situation has occurred, a vehicle outside notification is performed to notify the vehicle outside occupant that the dangerous situation has occurred by wirelessly communicating with a communication terminal of the vehicle outside occupant. determining a degree of awareness of the dangerous situation of the vehicle occupant based on at least one of a degree of alertness, a direction of gaze, and a behavior of the vehicle occupant; determining whether or not to provide the outside-vehicle notification and the contents of the outside-vehicle notification according to the degree of recognition; Notification control methods.

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