Vehicle image display device and vehicle image display method

Abstract

To provide a vehicular image display device which can quickly determine a display image corresponding to various operation environment information and display the determined display image at a position which can be viewed easily from the outside of a vehicle, and to provide a vehicular image display method.SOLUTION: A vehicular image display device includes: an image display part (12) which is provided facing an exterior of a body part of a vehicle (50); and a control unit which determines a display content of the image display part based on operation environment information and causes the image display part to display a notification image.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle image display device and a vehicle image display method.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, there has been an active development of a vehicle image display device that displays traffic-related information around the host vehicle to other vehicles, people, etc. around the host vehicle when the vehicle is running. As a document disclosing a technique related to such a vehicle image display device, for example, Patent Document 1 is known.

[0003] The in-vehicle device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes an in-vehicle unit and an out-of-vehicle display. The in-vehicle unit determines whether the driver satisfies the conditions for driving the vehicle based on the information on the vehicle recorded in the in-vehicle card and the license information recorded in the driver's license held by the driver, and starts the engine of the vehicle when it is determined that those conditions are satisfied. At that time, information corresponding to the driver's attributes is displayed on the out-of-vehicle display based on the information read from the driver's license. For example, when the driver is determined to be a beginner, a beginner driver sign (beginner mark) is displayed on the out-of-vehicle display.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Incidentally, in today's increasingly information-driven society, information related to vehicles (hereinafter referred to as "driving environment information") has become diverse in both type and content. In other words, not only the attributes of the driver, but also a wide range of information such as information on the vehicle's driving control, information on objects including people that appear outside the vehicle, information on other vehicles traveling around the vehicle, information on the condition of the road, and information on signs including traffic lights placed on the road have come to influence the driving of a vehicle.

[0006] Given the circumstances described above, vehicle image display devices are required to have the ability to display a large amount of information, or even multiple pieces of information, and specifically, vehicle image display devices with larger screens are needed. Furthermore, since the diverse driving environment information described above changes moment by moment, vehicle image display devices are required to have the ability to quickly update the displayed content in response to changes in the driving environment information.

[0007] In this regard, the external display of the in-vehicle device described in Patent Document 1 is installed near the front or rear window inside the vehicle, which inevitably limits the size of the external display screen. Furthermore, Patent Document 1 assumes that information about the driver obtained from driver's license information is displayed on the external display, and does not mention updating the content displayed on the external display.

[0008] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and aims to provide a vehicle image display device and a vehicle image display method that can quickly determine a display image corresponding to various driving environment information and display the determined display image in a position that is easily visible from outside the vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a vehicle image display device comprising: an image display unit provided on the body of a vehicle facing the outside; a control unit that determines the display content of the image display unit based on driving environment information and causes the image display unit to display a notification image; and a detection unit that detects the driving environment information, wherein the detection unit includes a biometric authentication unit that identifies the driver of the vehicle based on biometric information, and the control unit displays a driver's mark as the notification image on the image display unit based on the driver's information identified by the biometric authentication unit. The vehicle further includes a display image monitor unit capable of displaying an image corresponding to the notification image inside the vehicle, and the control unit is characterized in that, when it acquires the pre-set driving environment information, it does not allow the display image monitor unit to display the image.

[0010] In this vehicle image display device of the present invention, the image display unit is mounted on the vehicle body facing the outside, allowing for a relatively large image display unit to be installed on the vehicle. Furthermore, since the display content of the image display unit is determined based on driving environment information, changes in the vehicle's driving environment can be grasped in real time. This makes it possible to quickly determine a display image corresponding to various driving environment information and to display the determined display image in a position that is easily visible from outside the vehicle.

[0011] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, the driver's sign is one of the following: a novice driver's sign, an elderly driver's sign, a physically disabled driver's sign, or a hearing impaired driver's sign. Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, the image display unit includes a first image display area that is visible in a first direction as viewed from the vehicle, and a second image display area that is visible in a second direction different from the first direction, and the control unit selects at least one of the first image display area and the second image area as the display area for the notification image.

[0012] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, the control unit is characterized in that, after displaying the notification image on the image display unit based on the operating environment information, it acquires the operating environment information again, and then updates the notification image as necessary, taking into account the later acquired operating environment information.

[0015] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, the detection unit Furthermore,The system is characterized by including at least one of a vehicle speed detection sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle, an object detection sensor for detecting objects around the vehicle, a driving control information detection unit for detecting the driving control state of the vehicle, and a communication unit for communicating with related equipment.

[0016] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, the image display unit is provided from the vicinity of one headlight of the vehicle to the vicinity of the other headlight, and / or from the vicinity of one taillight of the vehicle to the vicinity of the other taillight.

[0017] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, the image display unit is characterized by comprising two image display units arranged near each of the two headlights and / or two taillights.

[0018] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, the image display unit is characterized in that it is an aerial image display unit that displays an image in the air.

[0019] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, the invention is characterized in that it comprises a plurality of image display units, and the control unit determines the notification image to be displayed for each of the plurality of image display units.

[0020] Furthermore, in one aspect of the present invention, driving A threshold is set in advance for the environmental information, and the control unit driving The method is characterized by determining the notification image by comparing environmental information with the threshold value.

[0021] In order to solve the above problems, a vehicle image display method according to the present invention is a vehicle image display method using a vehicle image display device including an image display unit provided on the body of the vehicle facing the outside, which determines the display content of the image display unit based on driving environment information, causes a notification image to be displayed on the image display unit, detects the driving environment information with a detection unit, and the detection unit includes a biometric authentication unit that identifies the driver of the vehicle based on biometric information, and based on the information of the driver identified by the biometric authentication unit, a driver identification is displayed on the image display unit as the notification image. The vehicle's interior displays an image corresponding to the notification image on a display image monitor, and when the pre-set driving environment information is acquired, the image is not displayed on the display image monitor. It is characterized by this.

Effect of the Invention

[0022] In the present invention, it is possible to provide a vehicle image display device and a vehicle image display method capable of quickly determining a display image corresponding to various driving environment information and displaying the determined display image at a position where it is easy to visually recognize from outside the vehicle.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0023] [Figure 1] Regarding the first embodiment, (a) is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the vehicle image display device and the image display unit on the front of the vehicle, and (b) is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the face recognition sensor and the display image monitor inside the vehicle. [Figure 2] It is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle image display device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] It is a flowchart showing the operation of the vehicle image display device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] (a) to (d) are schematic diagrams showing display examples of the image display unit according to the first embodiment. <0个000102>Regarding the second embodiment, (a) is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the image display unit on the front of the vehicle, and (b) to (e) are schematic diagrams showing display examples of the image display unit. [[ID=个0]] [Figure 6] Regarding the third embodiment, (a) is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the image display unit on the side of the vehicle, and (b) and (c) are schematic diagrams showing display examples of the image display unit. [Figure 7]In the fourth embodiment, (a) is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the image display unit on the rear of the vehicle, and (b) and (c) are schematic diagrams showing examples of the display on the image display unit. [Figure 8] This is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the aerial image display unit according to the fifth embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0024] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The same or equivalent components, members, and processes shown in each drawing will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be omitted as appropriate. In the following description, an example will be given of the vehicle image display device of the present invention being applied to an automobile, but the vehicle according to the present invention includes not only automobiles but also motorcycles, heavy machinery vehicles, and various other moving objects that travel on the road surface. The following embodiments are embodiments of each form of the image display unit classified by its position on the body of the vehicle 50, but of course the vehicle 50 may be equipped not only with one type of image display unit shown individually below, but also with a combination of multiple image display units.

[0025] (First Embodiment) Referring to Figures 1 to 4, a vehicle image display device and a vehicle image display method according to this embodiment will be described. As shown in Figure 1(a), the main body of the vehicle image display device 10 according to this embodiment (for example, the control unit 11, storage unit 19, terminal communication unit 17, and network communication unit 20, which will be described later) is arranged in the dashboard 54 of a vehicle 50 (see Figure 1(b)). The image display unit 12, which is the display screen of the vehicle image display device 10, has a size that extends from the vicinity of one headlight 51-1 to the vicinity of the other headlight 51-2. That is, the image display unit 12 is provided in the area of ​​the front grille. Reference numeral 52-1 is the license plate of the vehicle 50. As shown in Figure 1(b), a face recognition sensor 13A is provided on the front driver's side inside the vehicle 50, and a display image monitor unit 18 is provided on the front of the dashboard 54. Details of these will be described later.

[0026] Referring to Figure 2, the configuration of the vehicle image display device 10 will be described. As shown in Figure 2, the vehicle image display device 10 includes a control unit 11, an image display unit 12, a biometric authentication unit 13, a vehicle speed detection sensor 14, an object detection sensor 15, a driving control information detection unit 16, a terminal communication unit 17, a display image monitor unit 18, a storage unit 19, and a network communication unit 20. The biometric authentication unit 13, the vehicle speed detection sensor 14, the object detection sensor 15, the driving control information detection unit 16, the terminal communication unit 17, and the network communication unit 20 are collectively referred to as the detection unit 25. In Figure 2, as an example of related equipment, a smartphone (labeled "smartphone 30" in Figure 2), a communication network 31, and a server 32 are also shown. In this embodiment, related equipment refers to equipment that acquires information necessary when the control unit 11 determines the image to be displayed on the image display unit 12 based on driving environment information. The information acquired from related equipment is referred to as "related information." In Figure 2, solid arrows indicate wired transmission paths, and dashed arrows indicate wireless transmission paths.

[0027] The control unit 11 provides overall control of the vehicle image display device 10, primarily determining the display content to be shown externally (hereinafter referred to as "notification image") based on the driving environment information detected by the detection unit 25, and displaying the determined notification image on the image display unit 12. The control unit 11 may be, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a microcontroller, or an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) provided in the vehicle 50. The control unit 11 may also be provided with ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., which are not shown in the figure.

[0028] The image display unit 12, under the control of the control unit 11, displays a notification image toward the outside (other vehicles, people, etc.) relative to the vehicle. The image display unit 12 is not particularly limited as long as it can display characters, figures, etc., but as an example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, etc. can be used. The image display unit 12 may also be a display capable of displaying a color image, for example, by arranging sets of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) that emit R, G, and B colors as pixels in a grid (array). After the control unit 11 determines the notification image to be displayed on the image display unit 12 by a procedure described later, it sends image display data, which is notification image generation data, to the image display unit 12. The image display unit 12 may also display related information such as characters and figures acquired from related equipment. As described above, the image display unit 12 according to this embodiment has a size that extends from the vicinity of one headlight 51-1 to the vicinity of the other headlight 51-2, so that it is easily visible from either the left or right direction relative to the vehicle 50.

[0029] The display image monitor unit 18 is a monitor screen that displays an image corresponding to the notification image displayed on the image display unit 12. The image displayed on the display image monitor unit 18 may be the image itself displayed on the image display unit 12, or it may be information related to the notification image displayed on the image display unit 12. Information related to the notification image displayed on the image display unit 12 refers to, for example, the image of the characters such as "Beginner Driver Sign" when the beginner driver sign described later is displayed on the image display unit 12. After generating the image display data to be displayed on the image display unit 12, the control unit 11 sends display image monitor data to the display image monitor unit 18 as needed. The display image monitor unit 18 does not always need to display an image corresponding to the image displayed on the image display unit 12, and may not display anything in special cases such as an emergency in the vehicle. The determination of an emergency may be made, for example, based on driving environment information. In addition, the display image monitor unit 18 can also display information acquired from related equipment regardless of driving environment information. For example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display can be used for the display image monitor unit 18.

[0030] The biometric authentication unit 13 is a system that identifies individuals based on biometric information such as a person's face, fingerprints, and iris. In this embodiment, any system can be used as the biometric authentication unit 13 without limitation, but a facial recognition system will be used as an example below. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1(b), a facial recognition sensor 13A is installed near the driver's seat of the vehicle 50. The facial recognition sensor 13A, for example, captures the face of a person who appears near the driver's seat, converts it into authentication information used for authentication, and sends it to the control unit 11. Authentication information is an example of driving environment information.

[0031] The vehicle speed detection sensor 14 is a sensor that detects the relative speed of the vehicle 50 with respect to the road surface, for example, by detecting the rotational speed of the output shaft. The vehicle speed information detected by the vehicle speed detection sensor 14 is generally used for controlling the vehicle 50, but in this embodiment it is also used as driving environment information. The detected vehicle speed information is sent to the control unit 11.

[0032] The object detection sensor 15 is a sensor that detects other vehicles, people, etc., around the vehicle 50, and for example, LiDAR (Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging) is used. The object information detected by the object detection sensor 15 is generally used for controlling the vehicle 50, but in this embodiment it is also used as driving environment information. The detected object information is sent to the control unit 11.

[0033] The driving control information detection unit 16 is a component that detects instructions given by the driver to the vehicle, such as instructions to activate the turn signals, instructions to open and close the doors, and instructions to turn on various lamps. The driving control information detected by the driving control information detection unit 16 is generally used to control the vehicle 50, but in this embodiment it is also used as driving environment information. The detected driving control information is sent to the control unit 11. In the following description, the direction signal information from the turn signals will be used as an example of driving control information.

[0034] The terminal communication unit 17 is an interface for communicating with related devices such as smartphones, mobile phones, and tablet devices. In the following explanation, a smartphone 30 will be used as an example of a terminal device. The terminal communication unit 17 receives information from the smartphone 30, for example, about the driver, and sends the received information (hereinafter referred to as "terminal information") to the control unit 11. Terminal information is an example of driving environment information.

[0035] The network communication unit 20 is an interface for connecting to a communication network 31, such as an IP network. The network communication unit 20 sends relevant information acquired via the communication network 31 to the control unit 11 as driving environment information. Alternatively, it sends relevant information acquired from, for example, a server 32 acting as a storage device via the communication network 31 to the control unit 11. Examples of relevant information include road-related information such as construction and accidents. The communication network 31 and server 32 are examples of related equipment according to this embodiment.

[0036] The memory unit 19 is a storage device that stores information related to control by the control unit 11, and is composed of, for example, semiconductor memory, HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc. Information related to control by the control unit 11 includes, for example, information about multiple driver candidates, which is necessary when the control unit 11 performs user authentication based on authentication information sent from the facial recognition sensor 13A. The memory unit 19 may also be, for example, a server 32 located on the communication network 31.

[0037] Next, with reference to Figure 3, the operation of the vehicle image display device 10 according to this embodiment will be described. Figure 3 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the vehicle image display program executed by the control unit 11. This vehicle image display program is stored in a storage means such as a ROM (not shown), and upon receiving a start command, the CPU reads it from the ROM, expands it into RAM (not shown), and executes it. In the flow of Figure 3, it is assumed that the vehicle image display device 10 has already been started, triggered by events such as opening the doors of the vehicle 50 or starting the engine.

[0038] In step S10, the system waits until it can acquire driving environment information. Driving environment information refers to the various pieces of information from the detection unit 25 that form the basis for determining the image to be displayed on the image display unit 12 as described above. The locations where the information occurs and the names of the information are summarized below. Face recognition sensor 13A... Authentication information Vehicle speed detection sensor 14... Vehicle speed information Object detection sensor 15... Object information Driving control information detection unit 16... Driving control information Terminal communication unit 17... Terminal information Network Communication Unit 20... Network Information

[0039] In step S11, the notification image determination subroutine is called and executed.

[0040] In step S20 of the notification image determination subroutine, it is determined whether it is necessary to access related equipment. If the determination is positive, the process proceeds to step S21; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S22.

[0041] In step S21, information is obtained from related devices. This process involves, for example, obtaining personal data to be compared with the authentication information from the storage unit 19 or the server 32 on the communication network 31, if the driving environment information is authentication information from the facial recognition sensor 13A.

[0042] In step S22, the display image for the image display unit 12, i.e., the notification image, is determined based on the driving environment information, or based on the driving environment information and related information, and the process returns to the main routine.

[0043] In step S12 of the main routine, the notification image determined by the notification image determination subroutine is displayed on the image display unit 12.

[0044] In step S13, it is determined whether an interrupt occurred. If the determination is positive, the process returns to step S11 and the notification image determination subroutine is executed. If the determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S14.

[0045] Here, the processing in step S13 will be explained in more detail. An interrupt in step S13 refers to acquiring driving environment information again after having already acquired it. In this embodiment, the detection unit 25 sends the acquired driving environment information to the control unit 11 regardless of the number of detections. Therefore, the control unit 11 may receive driving environment information from one detection unit and then receive it from another detection unit. Of course, it may also receive driving environment information continuously from the same detection unit. One feature of this embodiment is that it can respond quickly to such cases and display an appropriate notification image on the image display unit 12. The number of times the driving environment information is received from the detection unit 25 is not limited to two; it can be any number of times. For example, if the control unit 11 receives driving environment information twice, it may display a notification image corresponding to the second driving environment information in addition to the notification image corresponding to the first driving environment information, or it may display only the notification image corresponding to the second driving environment information, or it may ignore the second driving environment information.

[0046] Next, in step S14, it is determined whether a termination instruction has been given. If the determination is negative, the program returns to step S12 and continues displaying the currently displayed notification image. If the determination is positive, the vehicle image display program is terminated. The termination instruction may be determined based on, for example, the vehicle's engine being stopped.

[0047] Next, referring to Figure 4, an example of the display of a notification image in the image display unit 12 will be explained in accordance with the flowchart shown in Figure 3. In this example, the vehicle 50 is equipped with an image display unit 12D at the rear of the vehicle, in addition to the image display unit 12, as shown in Figure 7(a). As shown in Figure 7(a), the image display unit 12D has a relatively large display screen that extends from the vicinity of the taillight 53-1 to the vicinity of the taillight 53-2. Figure 4 is an example of the display when the control unit 11 receives authentication information (face recognition sensor 13A), vehicle speed information (vehicle speed detection sensor 14), object information (object detection sensor 15), and driving control information (driving control information detection unit 16, in this embodiment, the turn signal) as driving environment information in this order.

[0048] In step S10, the control unit 11 receives authentication information about the face of a person who has come near the driver's seat from the facial recognition sensor 13A as driving environment information. Note that personal authentication is possible not only using the biometric authentication unit 13, but also by receiving owner information from the smartphone 30 via the terminal communication unit 17 as driving environment information. In this case as well, the notification image on the image display unit 12 is determined according to the following procedure.

[0049] In step S11, the system proceeds to the notification image determination subroutine, and in step S20, it accesses the storage unit 19 (or server 32). Information on pre-registered driver candidates is retrieved from the storage unit 19 (or server 32), and the person is identified by comparing it with authentication information. Examples of driver candidate information include driver's license information, i.e., name, age, date of license acquisition, driving conditions, etc.

[0050] Here, we will explain the driving conditions. The law recommends or mandates that license holders with certain driving conditions display a driver's mark corresponding to their driving condition facing outwards, and vehicles displaying such marks are called "vehicles displaying driver's marks." Examples of driver's marks include the novice driver's mark (beginner mark), the elderly driver's mark (elderly driver mark), the disabled driver's mark (disabled driver mark), and the hearing impaired driver's mark (hearing impaired mark). Of these signs, only the hearing-impaired driver's sign is mandatory; the other signs are recommended. By law, driver's signs must be displayed on both the front and rear of the vehicle. Vehicles displaying driver's signs are prohibited from actions such as cutting in front of them.

[0051] Next, in step S22, an appropriate notification image is determined based on the information of the person identified in step S21. Here, since less than one year has passed since the date of obtaining the license, it is decided to display an image of a novice driver's sign (beginner's mark).

[0052] In step S12, the control unit 11 displays the novice driver sign as a notification image on the image display unit 12, as shown in Figure 4(a). When displaying, the control unit 11 also determines the display position on the image display unit 12. Figure 4(a) shows an example where the display position is near the center of the image display unit 12, but it is not limited to the center; an appropriate position can be selected considering the display content, such as a position shifted to the left or right. The control unit 11 also determines the display position of the image display unit 12D, but in this example, it is set to the same display position as in Figure 4(a) (not shown). Thereafter, if there is no interruption in step S13, the control unit 11 continues to display the novice driver sign on the image display units 12 and 12D.

[0053] Next, the vehicle 50 approaches a traffic light displaying a yellow light and slows down. In step S13, the vehicle speed detection sensor 14 sends vehicle speed information indicating the deceleration of the vehicle 50 to the control unit 11 and proceeds to the notification image determination subroutine. Since access to related equipment is not required, a negative determination is made in step S20 and the process proceeds to step S22. In this case, display on the image display units 12 and 12D is not particularly necessary, so the control unit 11 determines in step S22 that updating the display image is unnecessary and continues to display the original novice driver sign in step S12.

[0054] Subsequently, the object detection sensor 15 detects a pedestrian crossing the crosswalk and sends object information to the control unit 11 in step S13. The control unit 11 determines from the object information that the detected object is a person and decides in step S22 to display the words "Stop, please cross" on the image display unit 12 along with the novice driver sign. The display of the novice driver sign may be temporarily suspended when displaying the words, but here it is decided to display the novice driver sign and the words simultaneously. An example of the display on the image display unit 12 in this case is shown in Figure 4(b). At this time, the display image on the image display unit 12D is not changed, that is, it remains the same as the display shown in Figure 4(a).

[0055] Subsequently, in step S13, the control unit 11 receives vehicle speed information and, if it determines that the vehicle 50 has started moving again, in step S22 it decides to return the notification image on the image display unit 12 to the notification image shown in Figure 4(a). In the case of a hearing-impaired person's sign, which is required to be displayed, the display on the image display unit 12 may be not interrupted, and the new display content may always be displayed together with the hearing-impaired person's sign.

[0056] Subsequently, in step S13, the control unit 11 receives driving control information indicating a left turn from the driving control information detection unit 16 (turn signal). In step S22, the control unit 11 decides to display the words "Turning Left" along with the novice driver sign on the image display unit 12. Of course, only the words may be displayed. In this case, in order to particularly draw the attention of people on the left side of the vehicle waiting at the traffic light, the words may be displayed on the right side of the image display unit 12 in a front view. Figure 4(c) shows an example of the display image in this case. On the other hand, the image display unit 12D also decides to display the words "Turning Left" along with the novice driver sign, but in the case of the image display unit 12D, in order to draw the attention of vehicles traveling on the left rear side of the vehicle 50, as an example, as shown in Figure 4(d), the words "Turning Left" are displayed in the left-leaning area of ​​the image display unit 12D and the novice driver sign is displayed in the right-leaning area. Thus, one of the features of this embodiment is that the image display unit 12 has a relatively large display screen that extends from the vicinity of the headlight 51-1 to the vicinity of the headlight 51-2, and the image display unit 12D has a relatively large display screen that extends from the vicinity of the taillight 53-1 to the vicinity of the taillight 53-2, allowing for the selection of an appropriate display area depending on the content to be displayed.

[0057] As detailed above, this embodiment has image display units 12 and 12D with relatively large display screens, so in addition to the central display area, an appropriate display area can be selected according to the display content, such as a display area to the right or a display area to the left. Furthermore, since the system constantly monitors driving environment information and updates the notification image each time driving environment information is acquired, an appropriate notification image can be quickly determined even if the driving environment changes. In other words, the vehicle image display device and vehicle image display method according to this embodiment make it possible to quickly determine a display image corresponding to various driving environment information and to display the determined display image in a position that is easily visible from outside the vehicle.

[0058] (Second Embodiment) Referring to Figure 5, the vehicle image display device and vehicle image display method according to this embodiment will be described. This embodiment is a configuration in which two image display units are provided on the front of the vehicle 50. Therefore, the configuration other than the image display units is the same as in the first embodiment, so please refer to Figures 1 to 4 as necessary, and a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0059] As shown in Figure 5(a), the vehicle image display device 10 according to this embodiment is equipped with two image display units 12A-1 and 12A-2. Image display unit 12A-1 is located near the headlight 51-1, and image display unit 12A-2 is located near the headlight 51-2. For the sake of the example of the notification image described below, the vehicle 50 according to this example is also equipped with image display units 12B-1 and 12B-2 at the rear of the vehicle 50, at positions corresponding to image display units 12A-1 and 12A-2, respectively. That is, image display unit 12B-1 is located near the taillight 53-1 shown in Figure 7(a) (on the left side when viewed from the rear of the vehicle), and image display unit 12B-2 is located near the taillight 53-2 (on the right side when viewed from the rear of the vehicle). Of course, if there are no constraints due to the notification image, it is also possible to provide only image display units 12A-1 and 12A-2.

[0060] The control unit 11 individually controls the notification images in the image display units 12A-1 and 12A-2. That is, normally different images are displayed in the image display units 12A-1 and 12A-2. Of course, the same image may be displayed. The same applies to the image display units 12B-1 and 12B-2. Furthermore, the number of image display units is not limited to two; in general, multiple image display units may be provided, for example, by adding another one in the center between the image display units 12A-1 and 12A-2 to make a total of three. The same applies to the image display units 12B-1 and 12B-2.

[0061] Referring to Figures 5(b) to 5(e), an example of the display of the notification image according to this embodiment will be explained in accordance with the flowchart shown in Figure 3. In this example, the driving conditions of the driver are those of a person with a physical disability, and the vehicle 50 has traveled and stopped at the destination, and the driver has gotten out of the vehicle will be used as an example for explanation.

[0062] When the driver appears near the driver's seat, the facial recognition sensor 13A captures an image of the driver's face, and in step S21 of the flowchart shown in Figure 3, it is determined that the driver's driving condition is that of a person with a physical disability. In step S22, the control unit 11 decides to display a disability symbol (clover mark) as a notification image on, for example, the image display units 12A-1 and 12B-2, as shown in Figures 5(b) and (c). Of course, the symbol may also be displayed on the image display units 12A-2 and 12B-1.

[0063] When the moving vehicle 50 comes to a stop, in step S13, according to the flowchart shown in Figure 3, the vehicle speed detection sensor 14 sends vehicle speed information indicating that the vehicle has stopped to the control unit 11. At this point, the control unit 11 does not update the image display units 12A-1, 12A-2, 12B-1, and 12B-2.

[0064] Next, when the driver's side door is opened, in step S13 of the flowchart shown in Figure 3, the driving control information detection unit 16 sends the door opening driving control information to the control unit 11. Upon receiving the door opening driving control information, the control unit 11 decides in step S22 to display the "Getting out of the car" notification image on the image display unit 12A-2. Figure 5(d) shows an example of the notification image at this time. In this example, the notification image is also displayed on the rear of the vehicle as an example, but it is preferable to display the notification image on the right side (driver's side) when viewed from the rear, so the disabled person sign is moved to the image display unit 12B-1 and the notification image is displayed on the image display unit 12B-2. Figure 5(e) shows an example of the notification image at this time.

[0065] In the above example, the images displayed on the display image monitor unit 18 may be all or some of the notification images from the image display units 12A-1, 12A-2, 12B-1, and 12B-2.

[0066] As described in detail above, in this embodiment, two image display units 12A-1 and 12A-2 are provided near both the left and right ends when viewed from the front of the vehicle 50, or two image display units 12B-1 and 12B-2 are provided near both the left and right ends when viewed from the rear of the vehicle 50, so that an appropriate display area can be selected according to the content of the notification image. Furthermore, since the system constantly monitors driving environment information and updates the notification image each time driving environment information is acquired, an appropriate notification image can be quickly determined even if the driving environment changes. In other words, according to the vehicle image display device and vehicle image display method of this embodiment, it is possible to quickly determine a display image corresponding to various driving environment information and to display the determined display image in a position that is easily visible from outside the vehicle.

[0067] (Third embodiment) The vehicle image display device and vehicle image display method according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 6. This embodiment is a configuration in which two image display units are provided on the side of the vehicle 50. Therefore, the configuration other than the image display units is the same as in the first embodiment, so please refer to Figures 1 to 4 as necessary, and a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0068] As shown in Figure 6(a), the vehicle image display device 10 according to this embodiment includes, for example, an image display unit 12C on the left door of the vehicle 50. Although not shown, an image display unit similar to the image display unit 12C is also provided on the right door.

[0069] Figure 6(b) shows an example of a notification image in this embodiment. In this example, the object detection sensor 15 detects a vehicle approaching from the left side of the vehicle 50 while it is in motion and sends information about the approaching object to the control unit 11. In step S10 or step S13 of the flowchart shown in Figure 3, the approaching vehicle is detected, and in step S22, the control unit 11 determines a "Caution: Approaching Vehicle!" notification image to warn the other approaching vehicle, and displays it on the image display unit 12C in step S12. Naturally, nothing is displayed on the image display unit on the right side of the vehicle at that time. Subsequently, when the object detection sensor 15 sends information to the control unit 11 in step S13 indicating that the other vehicle has moved beyond a safe distance, the control unit 11 decides in step S22 to stop displaying the notification image.

[0070] Figure 6(c) shows another example of a notification image in this embodiment. In this example, the network communication unit 20 obtains information of a predetermined category from the communication network 31 and sends the information to the control unit 11. In this example, the category is road conditions. In step S13 of the flowchart shown in Figure 3, the network communication unit 20 detects that an accident has occurred ahead on the road being traveled and sends this information to the control unit 11. In step S22, the control unit 11 determines a notification image that reads "Accident Ahead!", and in step S12, it displays the notification image on the image display unit 12C. After passing the accident site, the image display unit 12C stops displaying the notification image. The location of the accident site may be determined, for example, by equipping the vehicle image display device 10 with GPS (Global Positioning System).

[0071] As described above, the vehicle image display device and vehicle image display method according to this embodiment make it possible to quickly determine a display image corresponding to various driving environment information and to display the determined display image in a position that is easily visible from outside the vehicle. In this embodiment, a form in which road conditions acquired from the communication network 31 are displayed in text has been described as an example, but information such as accident information acquired from the communication network 31 may also be displayed.

[0072] (Fourth embodiment) Referring to Figure 7, the vehicle image display device and vehicle image display method according to this embodiment will be described. This embodiment is a configuration in which a relatively large image display unit is provided at the rear of the vehicle 50. Therefore, the configuration other than the image display unit is the same as in the first embodiment, so please refer to Figures 1 to 4 as necessary, and a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0073] As shown in Figure 7(a), the vehicle image display device 10 according to this embodiment is equipped with an image display unit 12D at the rear of the vehicle 50, which is sized to extend from the vicinity of taillight 53-1 to the vicinity of taillight 53-2. Reference numeral 52-2 indicates the license plate of the vehicle 50.

[0074] Figures 7(b) and 7(c) show examples of notification images in this embodiment. In this example, the vehicle speed detection sensor 14 sends vehicle speed information indicating deceleration to the control unit 11 in step S10 or step S13 of the flowchart shown in Figure 3. In step S22, the control unit 11 determines a notification image for "Slowing down". Figure 7(b) shows an example of the display of the determined notification image. Subsequently, when the control unit 11 receives vehicle speed information indicating that deceleration has been released, it stops displaying the notification image.

[0075] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the vehicle 50 may be equipped with an object detection sensor 15 that detects other vehicles traveling behind it, and the display content may be changed according to the distance to the other vehicle. For example, a first threshold and a second threshold smaller than the first threshold may be set for the distance to the other vehicle, and when the distance to the other vehicle falls below the first threshold, the notification image shown in Figure 7(b) is displayed on the image display unit 12D in step S12. If the distance to the other vehicle shrinks further and falls below the second threshold, the control unit 11 decides in step S22 to update the notification image to something like "Slowing down. Too close!". Figure 7(c) shows an example of the display of the notification image. The distance to the following vehicle can be determined, for example, by including distance information in the object information from the object detection sensor 15, and comparing this distance information with the first and second thresholds in step S13.

[0076] As described above, the vehicle image display device and vehicle image display method according to this embodiment also make it possible to quickly determine a display image corresponding to various driving environment information and to display the determined display image in a position that is easily visible from outside the vehicle.

[0077] (Fifth embodiment) Referring to Figure 8, the vehicle image display device and vehicle image display method according to this embodiment will be described. This embodiment uses an aerial image display unit as the image display unit. Therefore, the configuration other than the image display unit is the same as in the first embodiment, so please refer to Figures 1 to 4 as necessary, and a detailed explanation will be omitted.

[0078] Figure 8 is a top-down cross-sectional view of the vehicle 50. As shown in Figure 8, the image display unit 12E according to this embodiment includes a display 40, a retroreflector 41, a half-mirror 42, a quarter-wave plate 43, a transparent member 44, and a housing 45. Reference numeral 46 indicates the aerial image formed by the image display unit 12E. Figure 8 also shows the vehicle body 55 and the headlights 51-1. The aerial image display unit is applicable to any of the image display units of the above embodiments, but this embodiment applies it to the image display unit 12A-1 shown in Figure 5.

[0079] The operation of the image display unit 12E will now be described. The control unit 11 displays a notification image on the display 40 in the same manner as in each of the embodiments described above. The display 40 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, etc. Light emitted from the display 40 is reflected by the half mirror 42, and the reflected light passes through the quarter-wave plate 43 and is incident on the retroreflector 41. The light reflected in the direction of incidence by the retroreflector 41 passes through the quarter-wave plate 43 and is directed towards the half mirror 42. The light that has passed through the half mirror 42 passes through the transparent member 44 and is imaged at the position of the aerial image 46. The quarter-wave plate 43 converts the incident light into circularly polarized light, reducing the polarization caused by the display 40. Therefore, it is not an essential component and may be omitted if polarization is not a problem.

[0080] According to this embodiment, the display position of the notification image is closer to surrounding vehicles and people, which has the effect of making it easier to attract attention. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the effect of the present invention, which is that the determined display image can be displayed in a position that is easily visible from outside the vehicle, can be made more effective.

[0081] In the embodiments described above, examples were given of each image display unit displaying an individual notification image. However, there are no restrictions on the combinations of these, and they may be combined as appropriate, taking into consideration the placement of the image display units in the vehicle, the content of the notification images, etc.

[0082] Furthermore, although the above embodiments have been described using static notification images as examples, if it is particularly important to draw attention to surrounding vehicles or people, the notification image itself may be modified, such as by enlarging it, making it flash, or changing its color.

[0083] Furthermore, while the above embodiments have described examples of displaying notification images related to traffic, such as surrounding vehicles and people, other images, such as advertisements, may also be displayed. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0084] 10… Vehicle image display device 11…Control Unit 12, 12A-1, 12A-2, 12B-1, 12B-2, 12C, 12D, 12E...Image display section 13…Biometric Authentication Department 13A…Facial recognition sensor 14…Vehicle speed detection sensor 15... Object detection sensor 16... Driving control information detection unit 17…Terminal Communications Department 18...Display image monitor section 19...Storage section 20…Network Communications Department 25...Detection unit 30... Smartphone 31…Communication Networks 32... Server 40…Display 41… Retroreflector 42... Half-mirror 43...1 / 4 wavelength plate 44…Transparent material 45... Cabinet 46…Aerial images 50... Vehicles 51-1, 51-2… Headlights 52-1, 52-2… License plate 53-1, 53-2…Taillight 54… Dashboard 55... Vehicle body

Claims

1. An image display unit is provided on the vehicle body facing the outside, A control unit that determines the display content of the image display unit based on driving environment information and causes the image display unit to display a notification image, The system includes a detection unit that detects the aforementioned operating environment information, The detection unit includes a biometric authentication unit that identifies the driver of the vehicle based on biometric information. The control unit displays the driver's identification as the notification image on the image display unit based on the driver's information identified by the biometric authentication unit. The vehicle further includes a display image monitor unit capable of displaying an image corresponding to the notification image inside the vehicle, The vehicle image display device is characterized in that, when the control unit acquires the pre-set driving environment information, it does not display the image on the display image monitor unit.

2. A vehicle image display device according to claim 1, The vehicle image display device is characterized in that the driver sign is one of the following: a novice driver sign, an elderly driver sign, a physically disabled driver sign, or a hearing impaired driver sign.

3. A vehicle image display device according to claim 1 or 2, The image display unit includes a first image display area that is visible in a first direction as viewed from the vehicle, and a second image display area that is visible in a second direction different from the first direction. The control unit is characterized by selecting at least one of the first image display area and the second image display area as the display area for the notification image.

4. A vehicle image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, The vehicle image display device is characterized in that, after the control unit has displayed the notification image on the image display unit based on the driving environment information and then acquired the driving environment information again, it takes the later acquired driving environment information into account and updates the notification image as necessary.

5. A vehicle image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The detection unit further includes at least one of a vehicle speed detection sensor for detecting the speed of the vehicle, an object detection sensor for detecting objects around the vehicle, a driving control information detection unit for detecting the driving control state of the vehicle, and a communication unit for communicating with related equipment.

6. A vehicle image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The image display unit for a vehicle is characterized in that it is provided from the vicinity of one headlight of the vehicle to the vicinity of the other headlight, and / or from the vicinity of one taillight of the vehicle to the vicinity of the other taillight.

7. A vehicle image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, The image display unit for a vehicle is characterized in that it consists of two image display units arranged near each of the two headlights and / or two taillights.

8. A vehicle image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, The image display device for vehicles is characterized in that the image display unit is an aerial image display unit that displays an image in the air.

9. A vehicle image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, The system includes multiple image display units, The control unit determines the notification image to be displayed for each of the plurality of image display units, characterized in that it is a vehicle image display device.

10. A vehicle image display device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, The aforementioned operating environment information has a predetermined threshold set. The control unit is characterized by determining the notification image by comparing the driving environment information with the threshold value.

11. A vehicle image display method using a vehicle image display device equipped with an image display unit provided on the exterior of the vehicle body, Based on the driving environment information, the display content of the image display unit is determined, and the notification image is displayed on the image display unit. The detection unit detects the aforementioned operating environment information, The detection unit includes a biometric authentication unit that identifies the driver of the vehicle based on biometric information. Based on the driver information identified by the biometric authentication unit, the driver's sign is displayed as the notification image on the image display unit. An image corresponding to the notification image is displayed on a display image monitor installed inside the vehicle. A vehicle image display method characterized in that, when the pre-set driving environment information is acquired, the image is not displayed on the display image monitor.

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