Lamp control device, lamp control method, and program

Abstract

A lamp control device (100) comprises: an object information acquisition unit (101) that acquires, in time series, object information including the direction of a close observation requiring object which, among objects potentially existing around a moving body, should be closely observed by an occupant in the moving body; a sightline information acquisition unit (102) that acquires, in time series, sightline information including the sightline direction of the occupant in the moving body; an overlook determination unit (180) that, on the basis of the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the sightline information acquired by the sightline information acquisition unit, performs overlook determination which is determination as to whether the close observation requiring object indicated in the object information has been overlooked by the occupant in a duration from past to the present time; and an irradiation condition output unit (190) that uses a determination result of the overlook determination performed by the overlook determination unit to output an irradiation condition for a lamp device in accordance with the determination result.

Description

Light control device, light control method, and program

[0001] The disclosed technology relates to a lighting control technology for controlling lighting devices that irradiate light from a moving body to its surroundings.

[0002] Among light control technologies, there is a technology that detects objects around a moving vehicle and irradiates light toward the detected objects. A light control device using this technology irradiates light toward objects that are difficult for occupants to see, for example, at night. Incidentally, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle periphery monitoring device that displays a gaze display on a display device for a vehicle driver depending on the situation around the vehicle and the driver's visual state. The vehicle periphery monitoring device of Patent Document 1 "displays a gaze display on the display device when it is determined that the driver is not looking at an area that should be looked at, but does not display the gaze display on the display device when it is determined that the driver has looked at the area that should be looked at," and terminates the gaze display displayed on the display device when the driver looks at the area that should be looked at.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-125686

[0004] However, in situations where it is easy to spot a pedestrian wearing light-colored clothing even when it is dark around the vehicle, an occupant of a moving vehicle may be able to see an object before the light control device detects the object. Conventional light control technologies have had the problem that the light device may unnecessarily emit light even when the occupant can see the object. The vehicle surroundings monitoring device of Patent Document 1 does not control the light device in the first place, and therefore cannot solve the above problem.

[0005] The present disclosure is intended to solve the above-mentioned problem, and has an object to prevent unnecessary light emission in a lighting device.

[0006] The light control device of the present disclosure comprises: an object information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, object information including the direction of a gaze-requiring object that should be gazed at by an occupant of a moving body from among objects that may be present around the moving body; a gaze information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, gaze information including the gaze direction of the occupant of the moving body; an oversight determination unit that performs an oversight determination, which is a determination as to whether the gaze-requiring object indicated in the object information has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit; and an illumination condition output unit that uses the determination result of the oversight determination made by the oversight determination unit to output illumination conditions for a lighting device according to the determination result.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to suppress unnecessary light emission in a lighting device.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a basic configuration of a light control device 100 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a light control system 1A including a light control device 100A according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing by the light control device 100, 100A according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an object detectable range and a light range in a moving body. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing by the light control device 100, 100A according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, and is an image diagram illustrating an example of a situation just before a moving body turns right at an intersection. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing by the light control device 100, 100A according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, and is an image diagram illustrating an example of a situation just after a moving body turns right at an intersection. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a light control system 1B including a light control device 100B according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing by the light control device 100B according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of gaze information acquisition processing in the processing of the light control device 100B according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of an oversight determination processing and an illumination condition output processing in the processing of the light control device 100B according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a light control system 1C including a light control device 100C according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing of the light control device 100C according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of gaze information acquisition processing in the processing of the light control device 100C according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14A is a flowchart showing a second example of the processing of the light control device 100C according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 14B is a flowchart showing a second example of the processing of the light control device 100C according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a light control system 1D including a light control device 100D according to the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing of the light control device 100D according to the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of a portion of a gaze information acquisition process in the processing of the light control device 100D according to embodiment 4 of the present disclosure. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a light control system 1E including a light control device 100E according to embodiment 5 of the present disclosure. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing of the light control device 100E according to embodiment 5 of the present disclosure. FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing an example of the unnecessary information deletion process in the processing of the light control device 100E according to embodiment 5 of the present disclosure. FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a light control system 1F including a light control device 100F according to embodiment 6 of the present disclosure. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing of the light control device 100F according to embodiment 6 of the present disclosure. FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing an example of the oversight determination process and the illumination condition output process in the processing of the light control device 100F according to embodiment 6 of the present disclosure. FIG. 24 is an image diagram of a situation in which the processing according to embodiment 6 of the present disclosure is executed. FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a light control system 1G including a light control device 100G according to embodiment 7 of the present disclosure. Fig. 26 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by the light control device 100G according to embodiment 7 of the present disclosure. Fig. 27 is a flowchart showing an example of irradiation condition output processing in the processing by the light control device 100G according to embodiment 7 of the present disclosure. Fig. 28 is a diagram showing a first example of a hardware configuration for realizing functions according to the configuration of the present disclosure. Fig. 29 is a diagram showing a second example of a hardware configuration for realizing functions according to the configuration of the present disclosure.

[0009] In order to explain the present disclosure in more detail, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0010] First Embodiment In the first embodiment, a basic form of the present disclosure will be described.

[0011] The light control device controls the light devices. It is assumed that the light devices controlled by the light control device emit light from a moving body toward the periphery of the moving body. When an object that should be watched by an occupant is detected, the light control device determines whether the occupant of the moving body has overlooked the object that should be watched in the periphery of the moving body before the current time, and outputs an illumination condition for the light device according to the result of the determination. If the object that should be watched has been overlooked before the current time, the illumination condition is a condition that emits light toward the object that should be watched. If the object that should be watched has not been overlooked before the current time, the illumination condition is a condition that does not emit light toward the object that should be watched. Alternatively, the illumination condition may be a condition that weakens the light that is directed toward the object that should be watched below an initial value, which is a reference value.

[0012] An example configuration of a light control device according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example basic configuration of a light control device 100 according to embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. The light control device 100 shown in Fig. 1 includes an object information acquisition unit 101, a line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102, an oversight determination unit 180, and an illumination condition output unit 190.

[0013] The object information acquisition unit 101 acquires and accumulates object information in chronological order, including the direction of a gaze-requiring object that should be gazed upon by an occupant of the moving body among objects that may exist around the moving body. The object information includes angle information indicating the direction of the gaze-requiring object and time information indicating the time when the gaze-requiring object is detected. The angle information is, for example, an angle indicating the direction of the object relative to a lighting device of the moving body. The angle information can be converted, for example, into an angle indicating the direction of the object relative to the position of the face or eyes of the occupant of the moving body.

[0014] The gaze information acquisition unit 102 acquires and accumulates gaze information including the gaze direction of the occupant of the mobile body in chronological order. The gaze information includes gaze angle information indicating the gaze direction of the occupant of the mobile body and time information indicating the time when the gaze was detected. The gaze angle information indicates, for example, an angle indicating the gaze direction based on the position of the face or eyes of the occupant of the mobile body.

[0015] The oversight determination unit 180 performs an oversight determination, which is a determination of whether an object requiring attention indicated in the object information has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present time, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101 and the gaze information accumulated by the gaze information acquisition unit 102.

[0016] The illumination condition output unit 190 uses the result of the oversight determination by the oversight determination unit 180 to output illumination conditions for the lighting device according to the determination result.

[0017] In addition to the above components, the light control device 100 also includes a control unit (not shown), a memory unit (not shown), and a communication unit (not shown). The control unit (not shown) controls the entire light control device 100 and each of its components. For example, the control unit (not shown) starts up the light control device 100 in response to an external command. The control unit (not shown) also controls the state of the light control device 100 (operating state = startup, shutdown, sleep, etc.). The memory unit (not shown) stores various data used by the light control device 100. For example, the memory unit (not shown) stores output (output data) from each component of the light control device 100 and outputs data requested by each component to the requesting component. The communication unit (not shown) communicates with external devices. For example, communication is performed between the light control device 100 (100A) and a peripheral device (e.g., a device mounted on a vehicle). For example, if the light control device 100 and the mobile-mounted device are not connected by wire, the communication unit (not shown) has a function of communicating between the light control device 100 and the mobile-mounted device. The communication unit (not shown) also has a function of communicating with a server device, which is an external device. The control unit (not shown), the storage unit (not shown), and the communication unit (not shown) each have the same functions in the embodiments described below.

[0018] Next, a description will be given of an example of processing by the light control device 100. For example, the light control device 100 shown in Fig. 1 starts the following processing (loop processing) when a light control start condition is satisfied, such as when a moving object starts to move.

[0019] The light control device 100 then executes an object information acquisition process. In the object information acquisition process, the object information acquisition unit 101 of the light control device 100 acquires and stores object information in chronological order, the object information including the direction of an object that should be watched by an occupant of the moving vehicle, among objects that may be present around the moving vehicle. The object information acquisition unit 101 outputs the object information to the oversight determination unit 180 and the storage device.

[0020] The light control device 100 then executes a gaze information acquisition process. In the gaze information acquisition process, the gaze information acquisition unit 102 of the light control device 100 acquires and stores gaze information, including the gaze direction of the occupant of the vehicle, in chronological order. The gaze information acquisition unit 102 outputs the gaze information to the oversight determination unit 180 and the storage device.

[0021] The light control device 100 then executes an oversight determination process. In the oversight determination process, the oversight determination unit 180 of the light control device 100 performs an oversight determination, which is a determination as to whether an object requiring attention, indicated in the object information, has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present time, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101 and the line-of-sight information acquired by the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102. The oversight determination unit 180 acquires object information at the present time. The oversight determination unit 180 also acquires line-of-sight information before the present time. The oversight determination unit 180 determines whether an object requiring attention, indicated in the object information, has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present time. The oversight determination unit 180 outputs the determination result of the oversight determination to the illumination condition output unit 190.

[0022] The light control device 100 then executes an illumination condition output process. In the illumination condition output process, the illumination condition output unit 190 of the light control device 100 uses the result of the oversight determination by the oversight determination unit 180 to output illumination conditions for the lighting device according to the determination result. The illumination condition output unit 190 acquires the result of the oversight determination output by the oversight determination unit 180. If the determination result indicates that an object requiring attention has been overlooked, the illumination condition output unit 190 generates illumination conditions for emitting light toward the object requiring attention. The illumination condition output unit 190 outputs illumination condition information indicating the illumination conditions to the lighting device.

[0023] The light control device 100 then proceeds to an end determination process. In the end determination process, a control unit (not shown) of the light control device 100 determines whether to end the loop processing of the light control device 100. The control unit (not shown) determines whether to end the loop processing of the light control device 100 in accordance with an external end command or an execution program, for example, when the power source of the mobile object stops. If the control unit (not shown) determines that the loop processing of the light control device 100 should not end, the light control device 100 returns to the process of step ST110 and continues the loop processing. If the control unit (not shown) determines that the loop processing of the light control device 100 should end, the light control device 100 ends the loop processing.

[0024] Next, an example configuration of a light control system including a light control device will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example configuration of a light control system 1A including a light control device 100A according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. The light control system 1 (1A) is implemented or mounted on a mobile body. The mobile body is a means of transportation for carrying occupants, such as a passenger vehicle (hereinafter also simply referred to as a "vehicle") such as a compact car or a large car. In the present disclosure, a mobile body (vehicle) equipped with a light control device will be referred to as a "host mobile body" ("host vehicle") when distinguishing it from other mobile bodies (vehicles). The light control system 1 (1A) shown in FIG. 2 includes a peripheral object detection device 300, a gaze detection device 400, a storage device 500, a lighting device 600, and a light control device 100 (100A). The light control device 100A is connected to each of the peripheral object detection device 300, the gaze detection device 400, the storage device 500, and the lighting device 600 so as to be able to communicate with them.

[0025] The peripheral object detection device 300 detects objects that may be present around the moving body. The peripheral object detection device 300 is, for example, a vehicle-exterior facing sensor. The vehicle-exterior facing sensor detects objects around the vehicle. The vehicle-exterior facing sensor is configured using, for example, a front camera or a millimeter-wave radar.

[0026] The gaze detection device 400 detects the gaze of an occupant of a moving object. The gaze detection device 400 is, for example, a DMS (Driver Monitoring System). The DMS detects and outputs the gaze direction of the driver. The gaze detection device 400 is configured using, for example, an in-vehicle camera. The in-vehicle camera captures an image of the driver and acquires driver image data.

[0027] The driver (occupant) may visually recognize an object before the vehicle's onboard sensor (peripheral object detection device 300) detects it. For example, an outward-facing camera sensor (peripheral object detection device 300) may be unable to detect pedestrians in areas where headlight light does not reach due to insufficient brightness, but the driver may be able to detect bright colors or reflectors worn by the pedestrian. Unnecessarily shining headlights on an object the driver has already recognized can cause the driver to feel annoyed or reduce their attention to areas other than the object. Therefore, the lighting control device 100 determines whether the occupant's past line of sight has looked at the object detected at the current time, and controls the lighting device using the result of this determination. A configuration example of the lighting control device 100 will be described later.

[0028] The storage device 500 stores and accumulates information used in the processing of the light control device 100. The storage device 500 also causes the light control device 100 to refer to the information used in the processing of the light control device 100. The information accumulated by the storage device 500 is line-of-sight information acquired by a line-of-sight information acquisition unit. The information accumulated by the storage device 500 may also include object information acquired by an object information acquisition unit. Although the storage device 500 is described as being provided inside the light control system 1A, it may also be provided in a server device external to the light control system 1A.

[0029] The lighting device 600 emits light under the control of the light control device 100. The lighting device 600 is mounted on a moving body and emits light toward the surroundings of the moving body. The lighting device 600 is, for example, a vehicle lamp such as a headlight. The vehicle lamp (headlight) has a variable light distribution type (ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam)) that can control the light distribution pattern, and is able to distribute and block light to any location. The ADB controls the light distribution pattern using an LED array method in which multiple LEDs are arranged in an array, a scanning method using a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical System), or the like.

[0030] The light control device 100 (100A) acquires information from the peripheral object detection device 300 and the line-of-sight detection device 400, and uses the acquired information to determine whether the occupant has overlooked an object. The light control device 100 (100A) also stores the acquired information in the storage device 500, and by referring to the stored information, determines whether the occupant has been gazing at an object detected at the current time before the current time, and outputs illumination conditions using the determination result. The light control device 100 (100A) includes an object information acquisition unit 101 (101A), a line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102 (102A), an information storage control unit 110 (110A), an oversight determination unit 180 (180A), an illumination condition output unit 190 (190A), and an illumination control unit 200 (200A).

[0031] Similar to the object information acquisition unit 101 already described, the object information acquisition unit 101A acquires and accumulates object information in chronological order, including the direction of a gaze-requiring object that should be gazed upon by an occupant of the moving body among objects that may be present around the moving body. The object information includes angle information indicating the direction of the gaze-requiring object and time information indicating the time at which the gaze-requiring object is detected. The angle information is, for example, an angle indicating the direction of the object relative to a lighting device of the moving body. The angle information can be converted, for example, into an angle indicating the direction of the object relative to the position of the face or eyes of an occupant of the moving body.

[0032] Similar to the gaze information acquisition unit 102 already described, the gaze information acquisition unit 102A acquires and stores gaze information including the gaze direction of the occupant of the mobile body in chronological order. The gaze information includes gaze angle information indicating the gaze direction of the occupant of the mobile body and time information indicating the time when the gaze was detected. The gaze angle information indicates, for example, an angle indicating the gaze direction based on the position of the face or eyes of the occupant of the mobile body.

[0033] The information accumulation control unit 110A stores and accumulates the gaze information acquired in chronological order by the gaze information acquisition unit 102A in the storage device 500. The information accumulation control unit 110A may also store and accumulate the object information acquired in chronological order by the object information acquisition unit 101A in the storage device 500. The information accumulation control unit 110A may also store and accumulate the determination results by the oversight determination unit 180A and the irradiation condition information output by the irradiation condition output unit 190A in the storage device 500. While the information accumulation control unit 110A is described as an independent component, it may also be configured as an internal component of each of the other components. In this case, each component having the information accumulation control unit 110A can store and accumulate the acquired information in the storage device 500.

[0034] Similar to the oversight determination unit 180 already described, the oversight determination unit 180A performs an oversight determination, which is a determination of whether an object requiring attention indicated in the object information has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present time, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101A and the gaze information accumulated by the gaze information acquisition unit 102A.

[0035] Similar to the illumination condition output unit 190 already described, the illumination condition output unit 190A uses the result of the oversight determination by the oversight determination unit 180A to output illumination conditions for the lighting device according to the determination result.

[0036] The illumination control unit 200A outputs a control signal to the lighting device 600 in accordance with the illumination conditions output by the illumination condition output unit 190A. The illumination control unit 200A may be an internal component of the lighting device 600. In this case, the illumination control unit 200A of the lighting device 600 acquires the illumination conditions output by the illumination condition output unit 190A of the light control device 100, and outputs a control signal to the lighting device 600 in accordance with the illumination conditions.

[0037] Next, a description will be given of an example of processing by the light control device 100 A. Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by the light control device 100, 100A according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0038] The process shown in Fig. 3 is a light control method performed by the light control device of the present disclosure. For example, when a light control start condition is satisfied, such as when a moving object starts to move, the light control device 100A shown in Fig. 2 starts the loop process shown in Fig. 3 (step ST1000).

[0039] The light control device 100A then executes an object information acquisition process (step ST1100). In the object information acquisition process, the object information acquisition unit 101A of the light control device 100A acquires object information in chronological order, including the direction of an object that is likely to exist around the moving object and that should be watched by the occupant of the moving object. The object information acquisition unit 101A outputs the object information to the information accumulation control unit 110A and the oversight determination unit 180A. The information accumulation control unit 110A stores and accumulates the object information acquired in chronological order in the storage device 500.

[0040] The light control device 100A then executes a line-of-sight information acquisition process (step ST1110). In the line-of-sight information acquisition process, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102A of the light control device 100A acquires line-of-sight information, including the line-of-sight direction of the occupant of the vehicle, in chronological order. The line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102A outputs the line-of-sight information to the information accumulation control unit 110A and the oversight determination unit 180A. The information accumulation control unit 110A stores and accumulates the line-of-sight information acquired in chronological order in the storage device 500.

[0041] The light control device 100A then executes an oversight determination process (step ST1200). In the oversight determination process, the oversight determination unit 180A of the light control device 100A performs an oversight determination, which is a determination as to whether an object requiring attention indicated in the object information between the past and the present time has been overlooked by the occupant, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101A and the line-of-sight information acquired by the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102A. The oversight determination unit 180 acquires object information at the present time. The oversight determination unit 180 also acquires line-of-sight information before the present time. The oversight determination unit 180 determines whether an object requiring attention indicated in the object information between the past and the present time has been overlooked by the occupant. The oversight determination unit 180 outputs the result of the oversight determination to the illumination condition output unit 190.

[0042] The light control device 100A then executes an illumination condition output process (step ST1300). In the illumination condition output process, the illumination condition output unit 190A of the light control device 100A uses the result of the oversight determination by the oversight determination unit 180 to output illumination conditions for the lighting device according to the determination result. The illumination condition output unit 190 acquires the result of the oversight determination output by the oversight determination unit 180. If the determination result indicates that an object requiring attention has been overlooked, the illumination condition output unit 190 generates illumination conditions for emitting light toward the object requiring attention. The illumination condition output unit 190 outputs illumination condition information indicating the illumination conditions to the illumination control unit 200A.

[0043] The light control device 100A then executes illumination control processing (step ST1400). In the illumination control processing, the illumination control unit 200A of the light control device 100A outputs a control signal to the lighting device 600 in accordance with the illumination conditions output by the illumination condition output unit 190A. The illumination control unit 200A acquires the illumination condition information output by the illumination condition output unit 190A. The illumination control unit 200A generates a control signal to instruct the lighting device 600 to illuminate light in the direction of an object indicated in the illumination condition information in accordance with the illumination conditions indicated in the acquired illumination condition information, and outputs the control signal to the lighting device 600.

[0044] The light control device 100A then executes an end determination process. In the end determination process, a control unit (not shown) of the light control device 100A determines whether to end the loop process of the light control device 100A. The control unit (not shown) determines whether to end the loop process of the light control device 100A, for example, in accordance with an external end command or an execution program. If the control unit (not shown) determines that the loop process of the light control device 100A should not end, the light control device 100A proceeds to step ST1100 and repeats the process from step ST1100 (loop process). If the control unit (not shown) determines that the loop process of the light control device 100A should end, the light control device 100A ends the loop process (step ST1999).

[0045] An example of control by the light control device 100A will be described using a case where the moving object is a vehicle. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an object detectable range and a light range for a moving object. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing by the light control device 100, 100A according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, and is an image diagram illustrating an example of a situation just before the moving object turns right at an intersection. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of processing by the light control device 100, 100A according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure, and is an image diagram illustrating an example of a situation just after the moving object turns right at an intersection. As shown in FIG. 4 , in a moving object (vehicle) 1000 such as a vehicle, the normal illumination range 1100 of the lighting device 600 and the detectable range 1200 of the peripheral object detection device 300 each have a maximum range limit. Therefore, the outside-of-vehicle sensor may not be able to detect an object, for example, when an object that was outside the detection angle of view of the outside-vehicle sensor enters the detection angle of view, or when an object enters a bright place where the object can be detected from a dark place where the camera cannot detect objects at night. Even in such a case, the driver may notice the object before the outward-facing sensor detects it. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 5 , in a situation immediately before a moving body (vehicle) 1000 makes a right turn at an intersection, the normal illumination range 1100 and the detectable range 1200 do not include the position where the object (pedestrian) 1400 is located, so it is conceivable that neither light is illuminated nor the object is detected. Meanwhile, the occupant (driver) of the moving body (vehicle) 1000 may observe the surroundings before turning right and direct their gaze (gaze before the current time) 1300 toward the object (pedestrian) 1400, gazing at it. 6, even if the line of sight (line of sight at the current time) 1500 of the occupant (driver) of the moving body (vehicle) 1000 is directed in the direction of travel, the light control device 100, 100A can determine that the object (pedestrian) 1400 has not been overlooked based on the line of sight (past line of sight) 1300 before the current time, and can therefore not illuminate the object (pedestrian). This makes it possible to prevent headlight illumination that would encourage the occupant to focus on the object 1400 that has not been overlooked (FIGS. 5 and 6).Furthermore, by taking into consideration the movement of the vehicle itself or the movement of the illumination target as in the embodiment described below, it is possible to more accurately determine whether an object has been overlooked.

[0046] This embodiment shows an example of the following configuration: a light control device including: an object information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, object information including the direction of a gaze-requiring object that should be gazed at by an occupant of a moving body among objects that may be present around the moving body; a gaze information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, gaze information including the gaze direction of the occupant of the moving body; an oversight determination unit that performs an oversight determination, which is a determination as to whether the gaze-requiring object indicated in the object information has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit; and an illumination condition output unit that uses the result of the oversight determination by the oversight determination unit to output illumination conditions for a lighting device according to the determination result. This makes it possible to provide a light control device that makes it possible to prevent unnecessary illumination of light by a lighting device.

[0047] This embodiment discloses an example configuration as follows: A light control method using a light control device, wherein an object information acquisition unit of the light control device acquires, in time series, object information including a direction of a gaze-requiring object that should be gazed at by an occupant of the moving body among objects that may be present around the moving body, a line-of-sight information acquisition unit of the light control device acquires, in time series, line-of-sight information including the line-of-sight direction of the occupant of the moving body, an oversight determination unit of the light control device performs an oversight determination, which is a determination of whether the gaze-requiring object indicated in the object information has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the line-of-sight information acquired by the line-of-sight information acquisition unit, and an illumination condition output unit of the light control device uses a result of the oversight determination by the oversight determination unit to output illumination conditions for the lighting device according to the determination result. This disclosure thereby has an effect of providing a light control method that makes it possible to prevent a lighting device from unnecessarily emitting light.

[0048] This embodiment discloses an example configuration as follows: A program that causes a computer to operate as a light control device including: an object information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, object information including the direction of a gaze-requiring object that should be gazed at by an occupant of a moving body among objects that may exist around the moving body; a gaze information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, gaze information including the gaze direction of the occupant of the moving body; an oversight determination unit that performs an oversight determination, which is a determination as to whether the occupant has overlooked the gaze-requiring object indicated in the object information between the past and the present, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit; and an illumination condition output unit that uses the result of the oversight determination by the oversight determination unit to output illumination conditions for a lighting device according to the determination result. This disclosure thereby provides an effect of being able to provide a program that enables a lighting device to prevent unnecessary illumination of light.

[0049] Embodiment 2. In embodiment 2, a more detailed configuration example of the configuration according to embodiment 1 will be described. Specifically, the light control device according to embodiment 2 is an example of a configuration that performs an oversight determination using the gaze amount. Specifically, the following points will be particularly described. When an object that the driver should be watching is detected, the driver's line of sight information is reviewed back a predetermined time to determine whether the driver has overlooked the object that the driver should be watching. Whether the driver has overlooked the object that the driver should be watching is determined based on the number of times the object has been gazed at. Whether the driver has overlooked the object that the driver should be watching is determined if the number of times the object has been gazed at is below a predetermined threshold. When an object that the driver should be watching is detected, the driver's line of sight information is reviewed back a predetermined time to determine whether the driver has overlooked the object that the driver should be watching, taking into account the movement of the vehicle during that time. In embodiment 2, duplicated descriptions of components according to embodiment 2 that are the same as the components according to embodiment 1 already described will be omitted as appropriate.

[0050] An example configuration of a light control device and a light control system including the device according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example configuration of a light control system 1B including a light control device 100B according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. The light control system 1 (1B) shown in Fig. 7 is configured to include a peripheral object detection device 300, a line-of-sight detection device 400, a storage device 500, a light device 600, and a light control device 100 (100B).

[0051] The peripheral object detection device 300 has the same configuration as the peripheral object detection device 300 already described. The gaze detection device 400 has the same configuration as the gaze detection device 400 already described. The storage device 500 has the same configuration as the storage device 500 already described. The lighting device 600 has the same configuration as the lighting device 600 already described.

[0052] The light control device 100B, in the configuration already described, performs oversight determination using the amount of gaze of the occupant on an object. The light control device 100B includes an object information acquisition unit 101 (101B), a line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102 (102B), an information accumulation control unit 110 (110B), a gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120B), an oversight determination unit 180 (180B), an illumination condition output unit 190 (190B), and an illumination control unit 200 (200B).

[0053] The object information acquisition unit 101B acquires and stores object information in chronological order, including the direction of objects likely to exist around the moving body and that should be watched by the occupants of the moving body. The object information acquisition unit 101B acquires object information output by the peripheral object detection device 300. When the moving body is a vehicle, the object information acquisition unit 101B continuously acquires and stores peripheral information about the vehicle from the peripheral object detection device 300, such as an outward-facing sensor. The object information acquisition unit 101B detects objects that the driver should watch based on the peripheral information. Specifically, the object information acquisition unit 101B includes, for example, a peripheral information acquisition unit (not shown) and a peripheral object detection unit (not shown). The peripheral information acquisition unit continuously acquires and stores peripheral information about the vehicle from the outward-facing sensor, and transmits the information to the peripheral object detection unit. The peripheral object detection unit detects objects that the driver should watch (objects that should be watched), such as pedestrians, based on the peripheral information and transmits the information to the oversight determination unit. The surrounding information indicates the measurement results for the surroundings of the moving body. The surrounding information includes data measured for the objects indicated in the object information. The object information indicates objects that require attention, which are objects that should be stopped by the occupants of the moving body, among the objects included in the surrounding information, and includes angle information that indicates the direction of the object that requires attention relative to the moving body, and time information that indicates the time the object was detected.

[0054] The gaze information acquisition unit 102B acquires and accumulates gaze information, including the gaze direction of the occupant of the moving body, in chronological order. When the moving body is a vehicle, the gaze information acquisition unit 102B continuously acquires image information of the driver from the front of the vehicle interior, calculates and stores the driver's gaze information based on the image information of the driver. The gaze information acquisition unit 102B also continuously acquires image information of the driver from a cabin camera, calculates and stores the driver's gaze information based on the image information of the driver, and transmits it to the oversight determination unit 180B. When using the output of a DMS installed in the vehicle, the gaze information acquisition unit 102B acquires gaze information output from a gaze detection device 400 such as a DMS, stores it in the storage device 500, and outputs it to the oversight determination unit 180B. The gaze information includes angle information indicating the direction of the occupant's gaze (angle information indicating the direction based on the position of the face or eyes of the occupant of the moving body) and time information indicating the time of acquisition.

[0055] The information storage control unit 110B, like the information storage control unit 110A already described, stores and accumulates the gaze information acquired in chronological order by the gaze information acquisition unit 102B in the storage device 500. The information storage control unit 110B may also store and accumulate the object information acquired in chronological order by the object information acquisition unit 101B in the storage device 500. The information storage control unit 110B may also store and accumulate the determination results by the oversight determination unit 180B and the irradiation condition information output by the irradiation condition output unit 190B in the storage device 500. While the information storage control unit 110B is described as an independent component, it may also be configured as an internal component of each of the other components. In this case, each component having the information storage control unit 110B can store and accumulate the acquired information in the storage device 500.

[0056] The gaze information acquisition unit 120B calculates the gaze amount from the past to the present for each attention-requiring object using the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101B and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 102B. When the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101B includes an attention-requiring object that should be watched, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B calculates, for each attention-requiring object, the gaze amount indicating the amount of gaze the occupant has given to the attention-requiring object using gaze information before the current time. The gaze amount is, for example, the number of gazes or the gaze duration. When the gaze amount is the number of gazes or the gaze duration, it is calculated by adding the gaze amounts when the angles included in the object information and the angles included in the gaze information overlap. At this time, if the coordinate systems of the angles included in the object information and the angles included in the gaze information differ, the coordinate systems are aligned before the addition. Furthermore, a condition for the addition may be adopted such that the addition is performed when the time during which the angles included in the object information and the angles included in the gaze information overlap exceeds a predetermined time threshold.

[0057] The oversight determination unit 180B performs an oversight determination, which is a determination as to whether an object requiring attention indicated in the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101B and gaze information accumulated by the gaze information acquisition unit 102B has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present time. The oversight determination unit 180B performs the oversight determination based on the gaze amount calculated by the gaze information acquisition unit 120B. If the gaze amount (gaze information, gaze amount: number of gazes or gaze time) calculated by the gaze information acquisition unit 120B is below a pre-stored gaze threshold, the oversight determination unit 180B determines that the object requiring attention has been overlooked by the occupant of the moving body. The oversight determination unit 180B calculates the gaze amount for a pre-stored time period from the present time, and if the gaze amount exceeds the pre-stored gaze threshold, determines that the object requiring attention has not been overlooked. Alternatively, the oversight determination unit 180B determines whether the gaze amount exceeds a pre-stored gaze threshold value each time it adds up the gaze amount going back from the current time to the past, and if the gaze amount exceeds the pre-stored gaze threshold value, it determines that the object requiring attention has not been overlooked.

[0058] The illumination condition output unit 190B uses the result of the oversight determination by the oversight determination unit 180B to output illumination conditions for the lighting device 600 according to the determination result. The illumination condition output unit 190B calculates illumination conditions for the lighting device 600 (e.g., headlights) according to whether or not an occupant of the mobile object (e.g., the driver) has overlooked the object, and transmits the illumination conditions to the illumination control unit 200B.

[0059] The illumination condition output unit 190B calculates illumination conditions for the lighting device 600 (e.g., headlights) depending on whether or not an occupant (e.g., a driver) of the mobile body has overlooked the object, based on the determination result of the oversight determination unit 180B. When the determination result of the oversight determination unit 180B indicates that an object requiring attention has been overlooked, the illumination condition output unit 190B outputs illumination conditions for illuminating the object requiring attention. When the determination result of the oversight determination unit 180B indicates that an object requiring attention has not been overlooked, the illumination condition output unit 190B outputs illumination conditions for not illuminating the object requiring attention.

[0060] The illumination control unit 200B outputs a control signal to the lighting device 600 in accordance with the illumination conditions output by the illumination condition output unit 190B.

[0061] An example of processing by a light control device according to embodiment 2 of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of processing by a light control device 100B according to embodiment 2 of the present disclosure. The processing shown in Fig. 8 is a light control method by the light control device of the present disclosure. For example, when a light control start condition is satisfied, such as when a moving object starts to move, the light control device 100B shown in Fig. 7 starts the loop processing shown in Fig. 8 (step ST2000).

[0062] The light control device 100B then executes an object information acquisition process (step ST2100). In the object information acquisition process, the object information acquisition unit 101B of the light control device 100B executes the object information acquisition process in the same manner as the object information acquisition unit 101A already described. The object information acquisition unit 101B outputs the object information to the information storage control unit 110B and the oversight determination unit 180B. The object information acquisition unit 101B stores and accumulates the object information in the storage device 500 via the information storage control unit 110B.

[0063] The light control device 100B then executes a line-of-sight information acquisition process (step ST2110). In the line-of-sight information acquisition process, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102B of the light control device 100B executes the line-of-sight information acquisition process in the same manner as the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102A already described. The line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102B outputs the line-of-sight information to the information storage control unit 110B and the oversight determination unit 180B. The line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102B stores and accumulates the line-of-sight information in the storage device 500 via the information storage control unit 110B.

[0064] The light control device 100B then executes a gaze information acquisition process (step ST2200). In the gaze information acquisition process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B of the light control device 100B calculates the gaze amount for each object requiring attention using the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101B and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 102B. The gaze information acquisition unit 120B acquires gaze information including the gaze amount for each object requiring attention. The gaze information acquisition unit 120B outputs the gaze information to the oversight determination unit 180B.

[0065] Here, a detailed example of the gaze information acquisition process will be described. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the gaze information acquisition process in the processing of the light control device 100B according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure. After starting the process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B then executes a process of determining whether there is currently an object requiring attention (step ST2210). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B acquires object information acquired at the current time from the object information acquisition unit 101B, and determines whether there is an object requiring attention using the object information. If the gaze information acquisition unit 120B determines that there is no object requiring attention ("NO" in step ST2210), it ends the gaze information acquisition process.

[0066] When the gaze information acquisition unit 120B determines that there is an object requiring attention ("YES" in step ST2210), it then starts a gaze information acquisition loop process (step ST2220). The gaze information acquisition unit 120B then executes an accumulated information reference process (step ST2221) in the gaze information acquisition loop process. In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B references information prior to the current time that is stored in the storage device 500 via the information storage control unit 110B. The gaze information acquisition unit 120B may reference the object information and the gaze information together, or may reference them sequentially. The gaze information acquisition unit 120B acquires past information for a predetermined period of time all at once. Alternatively, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B acquires past information, for example, for each unit time from the current time. In this case, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B repeatedly executes the gaze information acquisition loop process until past information for a predetermined period of time from the current time is acquired. The gaze information acquisition unit 120B acquires past information for each unit time for each gaze information acquisition loop process.

[0067] The gaze information acquisition unit 120B then executes a process for determining whether or not there is an object requiring attention (step ST2222). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B determines whether or not object information indicating an object requiring attention is included in the referenced past object information. If object information indicating an object requiring attention is included in the referenced past object information, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B determines that there is an object requiring attention (step ST2222 "yes").

[0068] The gaze information acquisition unit 120B then executes a gaze determination process (step ST2230). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B next uses the gaze information at the same time to compare the direction of the object to be watched with the gaze direction, thereby determining whether the object to be watched was watched at that time. The gaze information acquisition unit 120B determines that the object to be watched was watched when the angular difference between the direction of the object to be watched and the gaze direction is less than a threshold.

[0069] If the gaze information acquisition unit 120B determines that the object to be watched is not being watched (step ST2230 "NO"), the gaze information acquisition unit 120B then executes a gaze count maintenance process (step ST2231). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B leaves the gaze count for the target object to be watched unchanged.

[0070] When the gaze information acquisition unit 120B determines that the object to be watched has been watched ("YES" in step ST2230), the gaze information acquisition unit 120B then executes a gaze count addition process (step ST2232). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B adds 1 to the gaze count for the object to be watched that is the processing target, and stores the result.

[0071] The gaze information acquisition unit 120B then determines whether all of the past information for a predetermined period of time has been referenced, and if it determines that all of the past information for the predetermined period of time has not been referenced, it continues the gaze information acquisition loop processing, and if it determines that all of the past information for the predetermined period of time has been referenced, it terminates the gaze information acquisition loop processing (step ST2240).

[0072] Returning to the description of FIG. 8 , the light control device 100B then executes an oversight determination process (step ST2300). In the oversight determination process, the oversight determination unit 180B of the light control device 100B performs an oversight determination, which is a determination as to whether an object requiring attention indicated in the object information has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present time, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101B and the line-of-sight information accumulated by the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102B. The oversight determination unit 180B uses the gaze amount calculated by the gaze information acquisition unit 120B to determine whether an object requiring attention has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present time. The oversight determination unit 180B outputs the result of the oversight determination to the illumination condition output unit 190B.

[0073] The light control device 100B then executes an illumination condition output process (step ST2400). In the illumination condition output process, the illumination condition output unit 190B of the light control device 100B acquires the gaze information including the gaze amount output by the gaze information acquisition unit 120B, and then executes the illumination condition output process in the same manner as the illumination condition output unit 190A already described. The illumination condition output unit 190B outputs illumination condition information indicating the illumination conditions to the illumination control unit 200B.

[0074] Here, a detailed example of the oversight determination process and the illumination condition output process will be described. Fig. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the oversight determination process and the illumination condition output process in the processing of the light control device 100B according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0075] The oversight determination unit 180B then executes a gaze amount determination process (step ST2310). In this process, the oversight determination unit 180B determines whether the gaze amount calculated by the gaze information acquisition unit 120B is less than a gaze threshold value (number of gazes<gaze threshold value?).

[0076] If the oversight determination unit 180B determines that the gaze amount is less than the gaze threshold value (YES in step ST2310), the irradiation condition output unit 190B then executes an oversight irradiation condition output process (step ST2311). In this process, the irradiation condition output unit 190B outputs irradiation condition information indicating the oversight irradiation conditions to the irradiation control unit 200B.

[0077] If the oversight determination unit 180B determines that the gaze amount is not less than the gaze threshold value ("NO" in step ST2310), the illumination condition output unit 190B then executes a process of outputting illumination conditions for a viewed object (step ST2312). In this process, the illumination condition output unit 190B outputs illumination condition information indicating illumination conditions for a viewed object to the illumination control unit 200B.

[0078] After executing step ST2311 or step ST2312, the irradiation condition output unit 190B ends the process.

[0079] Returning to the description of Figure 8, the light control device 100B then executes an illumination control process (step ST2500). In the illumination control process, the illumination control unit 200B of the light control device 100B executes the illumination control process in the same manner as the illumination control unit 200A already described. The illumination control unit 200B generates a control signal to instruct the light device 600 to illuminate light in the direction of the object indicated in the illumination condition information, in accordance with the illumination conditions indicated in the acquired illumination condition information, and outputs the control signal to the light device 600.

[0080] The light control device 100B then executes an end determination process. In the end determination process, a control unit (not shown) of the light control device 100B determines whether to end the loop process of the light control device 100B. The control unit (not shown) determines whether to end the loop process of the light control device 100B, for example, in accordance with an external end command or an execution program. If the control unit (not shown) determines that the loop process of the light control device 100B should not end, the light control device 100B proceeds to the process of step ST2100 and repeats the process from the process of step ST2100. If the control unit (not shown) determines that the loop process of the light control device 100B should end, the light control device 100B ends the loop process (step ST2999).

[0081] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: A light control device further comprising: a gaze information acquisition unit that calculates a gaze amount from the past to the present for each object requiring attention using object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit; and the oversight determination unit performs oversight determination based on the gaze amount calculated by the gaze information acquisition unit. This provides an advantageous effect of providing a light control device that makes it possible to improve the accuracy of oversight determination based on the gaze amount from a time prior to the current time. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides the same advantageous effect as the above by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0082] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: the gaze information acquisition unit, when the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit includes a gaze-requiring object that should be watched, calculates, for each gaze-requiring object, a gaze amount, which is the amount of gaze the occupant has given to the gaze-requiring object, using line-of-sight information from before the current time; and the oversight determination unit, when the gaze amount calculated by the gaze information acquisition unit is below a pre-stored gaze threshold, determines that the gaze-requiring object has been overlooked by the occupant of the moving body. This advantageous effect of the present disclosure is that it is possible to provide a light control device that makes it possible to adjust the strength of oversight determination according to a set value of the gaze threshold. Furthermore, the present disclosure achieves the same advantageous effect as the above by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0083] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: A light control device characterized in that the oversight determination unit calculates a past gaze amount for a preset time period from the current time, and determines that an object requiring attention has not been overlooked if the gaze amount exceeds a pre-stored gaze threshold. This provides an advantageous effect of providing a light control device that makes it possible to adjust the strength of oversight determination depending on the setting of the time period for calculating the gaze amount. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides the same advantageous effect as the above by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the above light control method, or the above program. Furthermore, the configuration of the present disclosure can be applied to the following embodiments, and provides the same advantageous effect as the above.

[0084] This embodiment further discloses the following exemplary configuration: Each time the gaze information acquisition unit adds a gaze amount going back from the current time to the past, the oversight determination unit determines whether the gaze amount exceeds a pre-stored gaze threshold, and if the gaze amount exceeds the pre-stored gaze threshold, determines that an object requiring attention has been overlooked and terminates the gaze amount addition process performed by the gaze information acquisition unit. This provides an advantage of reducing processing load by enabling the process related to oversight determination to be terminated when the gaze amount exceeds the gaze threshold. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides the same effect as the above by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program. Furthermore, the configuration of the present disclosure can be applied to the following embodiments, providing the same effect as the above.

[0085] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: The light control device is characterized in that the illumination condition output unit outputs illumination conditions for illuminating an object requiring attention when the determination result by the oversight determination unit indicates that the object requiring attention has been overlooked, and outputs illumination conditions for not illuminating the object requiring attention when the determination result by the oversight determination unit indicates that the object requiring attention has not been overlooked. This provides an advantageous effect of providing a light control device that can prompt an occupant of a moving object to notice that they have overlooked an object requiring attention. Furthermore, by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program, the present disclosure achieves the same advantageous effect as the above. Furthermore, the configuration of the present disclosure can be applied to all embodiments from this embodiment onwards, and achieves the same advantageous effect as the above.

[0086] Embodiment 3. In embodiment 3, a configuration is described in which the gaze amount is calculated taking into account the movement amount of a moving object. In embodiment 3, among the components according to embodiment 3, duplicated descriptions of components similar to the components according to embodiment 1 or embodiment 2 already described will be omitted as appropriate.

[0087] A configuration example of a light control device according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure and a light control system including the device will be described. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a light control system 1C including a light control device 100C according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. The light control system C shown in FIG. 11 is configured to include a peripheral object detection device 300, a line-of-sight detection device 400, a storage device 500, a light device 600, an ECU 700, and a light control device 100 (100C). Below, description of the configuration already described will be omitted, and only configuration that has not been described will be described. The ECU 700 outputs the speed and steering angle of a moving object. If the moving object is a vehicle, it is a vehicle ECU. The vehicle ECU (Electronic Control Unit) outputs the moving speed and steering angle of the host vehicle.

[0088] The light control device 100C acquires gaze information taking into account the movement of the moving object, and performs oversight determination using the gaze information. The light control device 100C includes an object information acquisition unit 101 (101C), a line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102 (102C), a moving object information acquisition unit 103 (103C), an information accumulation control unit 110 (110C), a gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120C), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 130 (130C), an oversight determination unit 180 (180C), an illumination condition output unit 190 (190C), and an illumination control unit 200 (200C).

[0089] The object information acquisition unit 101C, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102C, the information storage control unit 110C, the irradiation condition output unit 190C, and the irradiation control unit 200C can have the same functions as the components with the same names already described. Detailed description of the above components will be omitted here.

[0090] The mobile object information acquisition unit 103C acquires mobile object information including the speed and steering angle of the mobile object. The mobile object information acquisition unit 103C acquires the mobile object information in time series from the ECU 700. When the mobile object is a vehicle, the mobile object information acquisition unit 103C continuously acquires the speed and steering angle of the vehicle from the vehicle ECU.

[0091] The mobile object movement information acquisition unit 130C acquires mobile object movement information relating to the movement of the mobile object using the mobile object information. The mobile object movement information acquisition unit 130C acquires mobile object movement information including the amount of movement of the mobile object from a position where line of sight information was previously acquired to a current position based on the mobile object information relating to the movement of the mobile object.

[0092] The gaze information acquisition unit 120C further calculates the gaze amount based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101C, the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 102C, and the moving body movement information acquired by the moving body movement information acquisition unit, taking into account the movement from a position where gaze information was acquired in the past before the current time to the position at the current time.

[0093] In addition, each time the gaze information acquisition unit 120C adds the gaze amount going back from the current time to the past, an oversight determination is performed by the oversight determination unit 180C, and if the result of the oversight determination is that an oversight has occurred, the addition of the gaze amount is terminated.

[0094] The oversight determination unit 180C determines whether the amount of gaze exceeds a pre-stored gaze threshold, and if the amount of gaze exceeds the pre-stored gaze threshold, it determines that the object requiring gaze has been overlooked, and terminates the process of adding the amount of gaze by the gaze information acquisition unit 120C.

[0095] An example of processing of a light control device according to embodiment 3 of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a light control device 100C according to embodiment 3 of the present disclosure. The processing shown in Fig. 12 is a light control method by the light control device of the present disclosure. Of the processing shown in Fig. 12, processing other than the moving object information acquisition processing (step ST3100), the moving object movement information acquisition processing (step ST3110), and the gaze information acquisition processing (step ST3200) can be similar to processing with the same names as already described, and therefore description thereof will be omitted here.

[0096] 12 (step ST3000), and then executes a moving object information acquisition process (step ST3100). In the moving object information acquisition process, the moving object information acquisition unit 103C of the light control device 100C acquires moving object information in chronological order from the ECU 700. The moving object information acquisition unit 103C acquires moving object information including the speed and steering angle of the moving object.

[0097] The light control device 100C then executes a moving object movement information acquisition process (step ST3110). In the moving object movement information acquisition process, the moving object movement information acquisition unit 130C of the light control device 100C uses the moving object information to acquire moving object movement information related to the movement of the moving object. The moving object movement information acquisition unit 130C acquires moving object movement information including the amount of movement of the moving object from a position where gaze information was previously acquired to the current position, based on the moving object information related to the movement of the moving object. The moving object movement information acquisition unit 130C outputs the moving object movement information to the gaze information acquisition unit 120C.

[0098] Next, the processing of ST3200 will be described. The light control device 100C executes gaze information acquisition processing (step ST3200). In the gaze information acquisition processing, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C of the light control device 100C further calculates a gaze amount based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101C, the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 102C, and the moving object movement information acquired by the moving object movement information acquisition unit 130C, taking into account the movement of the moving object from a position where gaze information was acquired in the past before the current time to a position at the current time.

[0099] Here, a detailed example of the gaze information acquisition process will be described. Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the gaze information acquisition process in the processing of the light control device 100C according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. The process shown in Fig. 13 is a process obtained by partially modifying the process shown in Fig. 9 already described. Specifically, the process shown in Fig. 13 differs in that it includes processes (steps ST3223, ST3224, and ST3225) provided between the case where the determination result of the attention-requiring object presence / absence determination process corresponding to the attention-requiring object presence / absence determination process (step ST2222) shown in Fig. 9 is no ("NO" in step ST3222) and the gaze determination process (step ST3230) corresponding to the gaze determination process (step ST2230) shown in Fig. 9. 13 differs from the process shown in FIG. 9 in that it includes an oversight determination process (step ST3240) after performing a gaze count maintenance process (step ST3231) or a gaze count addition process (step ST3232), which corresponds to the gaze count maintenance process (step ST2231) or the gaze count addition process (step ST2232) in FIG. 9. The following describes the process that differs from FIG. 9.

[0100] If the referenced past object information does not include object information indicating an object requiring attention, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C determines that there is no object requiring attention (step ST3222 "NO"). If the determination result of the process for determining whether or not there is an object requiring attention is "NO" (step ST3222 "NO"), the gaze information acquisition unit 120C executes a process for acquiring object information from the most recent time (step ST3223). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C acquires object information from the time closest to the time indicated in the referenced information.

[0101] The gaze information acquisition unit 120C then executes a mobile object movement information acquisition process (step ST3224) in which the gaze information acquisition unit 120C acquires mobile object movement information from the mobile object movement information acquisition unit 130C.

[0102] The gaze information acquisition unit 120C then executes a movement amount consideration process (step ST3225). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C considers the movement of the moving object by using the object information acquired in the process of step ST3223 and the moving object movement information acquired in the process of step ST3224 and reflecting the amount of movement of the moving object in the direction of the object indicated in the object information. This improves the accuracy of the oversight determination compared to when the movement of the moving object is not considered.

[0103] Next, the oversight determination process according to this embodiment will be described. After executing the gaze count maintenance process (step ST3231) or the gaze count addition process (step ST3232), the gaze information acquisition unit 120C outputs gaze information indicating the number of gazes for each attention-requiring object to the oversight determination unit 180C. The oversight determination unit 180C acquires the gaze information output by the gaze information acquisition unit 120C. Using the gaze information, the oversight determination unit 180C determines whether the number of gazes on the attention-requiring object exceeds the gaze threshold (Gaze count > gaze threshold?) (step ST3240). If the oversight determination unit 180C determines that the number of gazes on the attention-requiring object exceeds the gaze threshold ("YES" in step ST3240), it notifies the gaze information acquisition unit 120C of a processing end command (processing end command notification). When the gaze information acquisition unit 120C receives the processing end command notice, it ends the gaze information acquisition loop processing. When the oversight determination unit 180C determines that the number of gazes on the attention-requiring object does not exceed the gaze threshold (step ST3240 "NO"), it notifies the gaze information acquisition unit 120C of a processing continuation command (processing continuation command notice). When the gaze information acquisition unit 120C receives the processing continuation command notice, it continues the gaze information acquisition loop processing. As a result, in the process of acquiring gaze information by referring to the accumulated information going back from the current time, it is possible to interrupt the process of calculating the gaze amount when oversight determination becomes possible, thereby reducing the processing amount and processing time.

[0104] The gaze information acquisition unit 120C executes a gaze information acquisition loop termination determination process (step ST3250). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C determines whether all of the information accumulated during a predetermined time from the current time has been checked, and if it determines that all of the information has been checked, the gaze information acquisition loop is terminated.

[0105] Here, a second example of processing by the light control device according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. FIG. 14 (FIGS. 14A and 14B) is a flowchart showing a second example of processing by the light control device 100C according to the third embodiment of the present disclosure. The processing shown in FIG. 14 is a light control method by the light control device according to the present disclosure. In the processing shown in FIG. 14, a case will be described in which the moving body is a vehicle (the subject vehicle), the peripheral object detection device 300 is an exterior sensor, the gaze detection device 400 is a DMS including an interior camera, the lighting device 600 is a vehicle lamp (headlight), and the object to be watched is a pedestrian. The light control device 100C shown in FIG. 11 starts the loop processing shown in FIG. 14 (step ST3260) when a light control start condition is satisfied, for example, when the subject vehicle starts to drive.

[0106] The light control device 100C then executes a process of calculating movement information from the vehicle information from the vehicle ECU (step ST3261). In this process, the moving object information acquisition unit 103C of the light control device 100C acquires the speed and steering angle of the host vehicle from the ECU 700 and calculates the moving object movement information.

[0107] The light control device 100C then executes a process of storing the subject vehicle movement information (step ST3262). In this process, the moving object information acquisition unit 103C of the light control device 100C stores and accumulates the calculated moving object movement information in the storage device 500 via the information accumulation control unit 110C.

[0108] The light control device 100C then executes a process of acquiring gaze information from the interior camera (step ST3263). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 102C of the light control device 100C calculates and acquires the gaze information of the driver from the image data of the driver acquired from the interior camera.

[0109] The light control device 100C then executes a process of storing the line-of-sight information (step ST3264). In this process, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102C of the light control device 100C stores and accumulates the line-of-sight information in the storage device 500 via the information storage control unit 110C.

[0110] The light control device 100C then executes a process of acquiring surrounding information from the vehicle exterior sensors (step ST3265). In this process, the object information acquisition unit 101C of the light control device 100C continuously acquires surrounding information about the host vehicle in chronological order from the vehicle exterior sensors.

[0111] The light control device 100C then executes a process of storing the surrounding information (step ST3266). In this process, the object information acquisition unit 101C of the light control device 100C stores and accumulates the surrounding information acquired in chronological order in the storage device 500 via the information storage control unit 110C. The surrounding information includes object information.

[0112] The light control device 100C then executes a process of selecting an object that should be noted from the object information (step ST3267). In this process, the object information acquisition unit 101C of the light control device 100C detects an object that the driver should pay attention to, such as a pedestrian, based on the surrounding information. The object information acquisition unit 101C acquires object information indicating the object that should be paid attention to, and outputs the object information to the gaze information acquisition unit 120C.

[0113] The light control device 100C then executes a process of determining whether or not there is an object that requires attention in the current object information (step ST3270). In this process, the object information acquisition unit 101C of the light control device 100C determines whether or not the object indicated in the object information at the current time is an object that requires attention.

[0114] If the object information acquisition unit 101C determines that the object indicated in the object information at the current time is an object requiring attention ("YES" in step ST3270), the light control device 100C then starts a gaze information acquisition loop process (step ST3280). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C of the light control device 100C starts the gaze information acquisition loop process by referencing information stored in the storage device 500 going back a predetermined time from the current time to acquire gaze information.

[0115] The light control device 100C then executes a process (step ST3281) to determine whether the object to note is included in the object information being referenced. In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C of the light control device 100C refers to the object information, and if the object to note is included in the object information being referenced ("YES" in step ST3281), the gaze information acquisition unit 120C uses that information for subsequent processes. If the gaze information acquisition unit 120C determines that the object to note is not included in the object information being referenced ("NO" in step ST3281), the light control device 100C then executes a process (step ST3282) to acquire and use object information from the time closest to the reference time.

[0116] After the gaze information acquisition unit 120C executes the process of step ST3282, the light control device 100C then executes a process (step ST3283) of aligning the coordinate systems of the object information and the gaze information using the host vehicle movement. In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C of the light control device 100C uses the host vehicle movement information to align the coordinate systems of the gaze information being referred to and the object information to be used. This is because past gaze information was acquired at a past host vehicle position, and the movement of the host vehicle must be taken into account in order to compare object information and gaze information at different times.

[0117] If the gaze information acquisition unit 120C determines that an object to be noted is included in the object information being referenced ("YES" in step ST3281), or after executing the process of step ST3283, the light control device 100C then executes a process of determining whether the angle difference between the gaze information being referenced and the object information is less than a threshold value (step ST3284). In this process, if the gaze information acquisition unit 120C of the light control device 100C determines that the angle difference between the gaze information being referenced and the object information is less than the threshold value ("YES" in step ST3284), the gaze information acquisition unit 120C then executes a gaze count addition process (step ST3286).

[0118] If the gaze information acquisition unit 120C determines that the angle difference between the gaze information and object information being referenced is not less than the threshold value (step ST3284 "NO"), the gaze information acquisition unit 120C then leaves the number of gazes unchanged (step ST3285).

[0119] The light control device 100C then executes a gaze information acquisition loop process termination determination process. In the gaze information acquisition loop process termination determination process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120B of the light control device 100C determines whether to terminate the gaze information acquisition loop process. For example, when the gaze information acquisition unit 120C has referenced all of the information for each object information indicating an object requiring attention, going back a predetermined time from the current time, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C outputs gaze information indicating the amount of gaze related to the object requiring attention, and terminates the gaze information acquisition loop process (step ST3289). When the gaze information acquisition unit 120C has not referenced all of the information going back a predetermined time from the current time, the gaze information acquisition unit 120C continues the gaze information acquisition loop process.

[0120] The light control device 100C then executes a process (step ST3290) to determine whether the number of gazes is below a threshold value. In this process, the oversight determination unit 180C of the light control device 100C acquires the gaze information output by the gaze information acquisition unit 120C and determines whether the gaze count, which is the gaze amount, is below a count threshold value using the gaze amount indicated in the gaze information. If the gaze count is not below the count threshold value ("NO" in step ST3290), the oversight determination unit 180C outputs the determination result of the oversight determination, indicating that there was no oversight, to the illumination condition output unit 190C. In accordance with the determination result, the illumination condition output unit 190C creates illumination conditions for awareness that do not illuminate the oversight object (step ST3291). If the number of gazes is less than the number threshold ("YES" in step ST3290), the oversight determination unit 180C outputs the determination result indicating an oversight to the irradiation condition output unit 190C. The irradiation condition output unit 190C executes a process of creating an oversight irradiation condition (step ST3292) in accordance with the determination result.

[0121] When the illumination conditions for all objects to be illuminated have been calculated, the loop processing ends (step ST3293, step ST3299), the illumination condition output unit 190C of the light control device 100C outputs illumination condition information indicating the illumination conditions to the illumination control unit 200C, and the illumination control unit 200C generates a control signal in accordance with the illumination condition information and outputs it to the light device 600.

[0122] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: A light control device including a mobile object movement information acquisition unit that acquires mobile object movement information including a movement amount of the mobile object from a position where gaze information was previously acquired to a current position based on mobile object information related to the movement of the mobile object, wherein the gaze information acquisition unit further calculates a gaze amount based on the mobile object movement information acquired by the mobile object movement information acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit, taking into account the movement of the mobile object from the position where gaze information was previously acquired to a position at the current time. This provides an advantageous effect of providing a light control device that can further improve the accuracy of oversight determination by taking into account the movement of the mobile object. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides an advantageous effect similar to the advantageous effect by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0123] Embodiment 4. In embodiment 4, a configuration is described in which the gaze amount is calculated taking into account the movement amount of an object requiring gaze. In embodiment 4, among the components according to embodiment 4, duplicated descriptions of components similar to the components according to embodiment 1, embodiment 2, or embodiment 3 already described will be omitted as appropriate.

[0124] An example configuration of a light control device according to a fourth embodiment of the present disclosure and a light control system including the device will be described. Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example configuration of a light control system 1D including a light control device 100D according to the fourth embodiment of the present disclosure. The light control system 1D shown in Fig. 15 is configured to include a peripheral object detection device 300, a line of sight detection device 400, a storage device 500, a light device 600, an ECU 700, and a light control device 100 (100D). Below, descriptions of the configuration that has already been described will be omitted, and only configuration that has not been described will be described.

[0125] The light control device 100D is configured to include an object information acquisition unit 101 (101D), a line of sight information acquisition unit 102 (102D), a moving object information acquisition unit 103 (103D), an information storage control unit 110 (110D), a gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120D), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 130 (130D), an object movement information acquisition unit 140 (140D), an oversight determination unit 180 (180D), an illumination condition output unit 190 (190D), and an illumination control unit 200 (200D).

[0126] The object information acquisition unit 101D, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102D, the moving object information acquisition unit 103D, the information storage control unit 110D, the moving object movement information acquisition unit 130D, the irradiation condition output unit 190D, and the irradiation control unit 200D can have the same functions as the components with the same names already described. Detailed description of the above components will be omitted here.

[0127] The object movement information acquisition unit 140D acquires object movement information including the amount of movement of the attention-requiring object from the past position to the current position, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101D.

[0128] The gaze information acquisition unit 120D further calculates the gaze amount by using the object movement information acquired by the object movement information acquisition unit 140D and taking into account the amount of movement of the object to be watched.

[0129] An example of processing of a light control device according to embodiment 4 of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a light control device 100D according to embodiment 4 of the present disclosure. The processing shown in Fig. 16 is a light control method by the light control device of the present disclosure. Of the processing shown in Fig. 16, processing other than processing (step ST4200) and processing (step ST4300) can be similar to processing with the same names already described, and therefore description thereof will be omitted here.

[0130] The light control device 100D executes an object movement information acquisition process (step ST4200). In the object movement information acquisition process, the object movement information acquisition unit 140D of the light control device 100D acquires object movement information including the amount of movement of the attention-requiring object from the past position to the current position, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit 101D. The object movement information acquisition unit 140D outputs the object movement information to the gaze information acquisition unit 120D.

[0131] The light control device 100D then executes a gaze information acquisition process (step ST4300). In the gaze information acquisition process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120D of the light control device 100D uses the object movement information acquired by the object movement information acquisition unit 140D to calculate the gaze amount in consideration of the movement amount of the object to be watched.

[0132] Here, a detailed example of the gaze information acquisition process will be described. Fig. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of a part of the gaze information acquisition process in the processing of the light control device 100D according to embodiment 4 of the present disclosure. The processes of steps ST4223 to ST4226 in Fig. 17 are assumed to be replaced with the processes of steps ST3223 to ST3225 in Fig. 13.

[0133] The gaze information acquisition unit 120D determines that there is no object requiring attention if the referenced past object information does not include object information indicating an object requiring attention. If the determination result of the process for determining whether or not there is an object requiring attention is no object requiring attention, the gaze information acquisition unit 120D executes a process for acquiring object information from the most recent time (step ST4223). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120D acquires object information from the time closest to the time indicated in the referenced information.

[0134] The gaze information acquisition unit 120D then executes a mobile object movement information acquisition process (step ST4224) in which the gaze information acquisition unit 120D acquires mobile object movement information from the mobile object movement information acquisition unit 130D.

[0135] The gaze information acquisition unit 120D executes an object movement information acquisition process (step ST4225), in which the gaze information acquisition unit 120D acquires object movement information from the object movement information acquisition unit 140D.

[0136] The gaze information acquisition unit 120D then executes a movement amount consideration process (step ST4226). In this process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120D considers the movement of the moving object based on the moving object movement information acquired by the moving object movement information acquisition unit 130D, and further calculates the gaze amount by considering the movement of the object requiring attention using the object movement information acquired by the object movement information acquisition unit 140D. The gaze information acquisition unit 120D considers the movement of the moving object by reflecting the movement amount of the moving object in the direction of the object requiring attention indicated in the past object information using the object information acquired by the process of step ST4223 and the moving object movement information acquired by the process of step ST4224. Furthermore, the gaze information acquisition unit 120D considers the movement of the object requiring attention by further reflecting the movement amount of the object in the direction of the object requiring attention indicated in the past object information using the object movement information acquired by the process of step ST4225. This improves the accuracy of the oversight determination compared to when the movement of the moving object and the movement of the object requiring attention are not considered.

[0137] After executing the movement amount consideration process, the gaze information acquisition unit 120D outputs the gaze information to the oversight determination unit 180D and ends the process.

[0138] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: A light control device including an object movement information acquisition unit that acquires object movement information including a movement amount from a past position to a current position of an object requiring attention, based on object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit, wherein the gaze information acquisition unit further calculates a gaze amount taking into account the movement of the object requiring attention, using the object movement information acquired by the object movement information acquisition unit. This provides an advantageous effect that a light control device can be provided that can further improve the accuracy of oversight determination based on the movement amount of an object requiring attention. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides an advantageous effect similar to the advantageous effect by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0139] Embodiment 5. In embodiment 5, a form in which unnecessary information is deleted will be described. In embodiment 5, among the components according to embodiment 5, duplicated descriptions of components similar to the components according to embodiment 1, embodiment 2, embodiment 3, or embodiment 4 already described will be omitted as appropriate.

[0140] An example configuration of a light control device according to a fifth embodiment of the present disclosure and a light control system including the device will be described. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example configuration of a light control system 1E including a light control device 100E according to the fifth embodiment of the present disclosure. The light control system 1E shown in FIG. 18 is configured to include a peripheral object detection device 300, a line of sight detection device 400, a storage device 500, a light device 600, an ECU 700, and a light control device 100 (100E). Below, description of the configuration that has already been described will be omitted, and only configuration that has not been described will be described. The light control device 100E erases unnecessary information from the accumulated past information. The light control device 100E is configured to include an object information acquisition unit 101 (101E), a line of sight information acquisition unit 102 (102E), a moving object information acquisition unit 103 (103E), an information storage control unit 110 (110E), a gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120E), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 130 (130E), an object movement information acquisition unit 140 (140E), an unnecessary information determination unit 150 (150E), an oversight determination unit 180 (180E), an illumination condition output unit 190 (190E), and an illumination control unit 200 (200E). The object information acquisition unit 101E, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102E, the moving object information acquisition unit 103E, the information accumulation control unit 110E, the gaze information acquisition unit 120E, the moving object movement information acquisition unit 130E, the object movement information acquisition unit 140E, the oversight determination unit 180E, the irradiation condition output unit 190E, and the irradiation control unit 200E can apply functions similar to those of the components with the same names already described. Detailed description of the above components will be omitted here.

[0141] The unnecessary information determination unit 150E determines that the object information acquired in time series by the object information acquisition unit 101E and the gaze information acquired in time series by the gaze information acquisition unit 102E are unnecessary and deletes them if the distance from the position at which the information was acquired to the current position exceeds a pre-stored distance threshold. As a result, object information from the past object information before the current time is discarded if the distance from the position at which the object information was acquired to the current position exceeds the pre-stored distance. Furthermore, gaze information from the past gaze information before the current time is discarded if the distance from the position at which the gaze information was acquired to the current position exceeds the pre-stored distance.

[0142] Next, a processing example of a light control device according to embodiment 5 of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a light control device 100E according to embodiment 5 of the present disclosure. The processing shown in Fig. 19 is a light control method by the light control device of the present disclosure. Of the processing shown in Fig. 19, processing other than processing (step ST5100) can be similar to processing with the same name already described, and therefore description here will be omitted.

[0143] The light control device 100E executes an unnecessary information deletion process (step ST5100). In the unnecessary information deletion process, the unnecessary information determination unit 150E of the light control device 100E determines that the object information acquired in time series by the object information acquisition unit and the line-of-sight information acquired in time series by the line-of-sight information acquisition unit are unnecessary and deletes the information if the distance from the position at which the information was acquired to the current position exceeds a pre-stored distance threshold.

[0144] Here, a detailed example of the unnecessary information deletion process will be described. Fig. 20 is a flowchart showing an example of the unnecessary information deletion process in the processing of the light control device 100E according to the fifth embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0145] The unnecessary information determination unit 150E executes a stored information reference process (step ST5110). In the stored information reference process, the unnecessary information determination unit 150E references information stored in the storage device 500 via the information storage control unit 110E. The unnecessary information determination unit 150E references the line-of-sight information stored in the storage device 500.

[0146] Next, unnecessary information determination unit 150E executes unnecessary information determination processing (step ST5120). In the unnecessary information determination processing, unnecessary information determination unit 150E determines whether the distance from the current position to the position where the gaze information was acquired exceeds a predetermined distance threshold value, among the gaze information stored in storage device 500, to determine that the information is unnecessary.

[0147] Next, unnecessary information determination unit 150E executes a deletion command process (step ST5130). In the deletion command process, unnecessary information determination unit 150E outputs a deletion command to delete the gaze information determined to be unnecessary information, and causes the gaze information to be deleted from storage device 500 via information storage control unit 110E. Note that unnecessary information determination unit 150E may also perform the same process as above on object information stored in storage device 500.

[0148] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: A light control device further comprising: an unnecessary information determination unit that determines that the object information acquired in time series by the object information acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired in time series by the gaze information acquisition unit are unnecessary and deletes the information when the distance from the position at which the information was acquired to the current position exceeds a pre-stored distance threshold. This provides an advantageous effect of providing a light control device that makes it possible to delete unnecessary information, such as information acquired at a position far from the current position, among the information acquired in time series. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides an advantageous effect similar to the advantageous effect by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0149] Embodiment 6. In embodiment 6, a form is described in which the luminance around the line of sight is acquired and used for oversight determination. In embodiment 6, among the components according to embodiment 7, duplicated descriptions of components similar to the components according to embodiment 1, embodiment 2, embodiment 3, embodiment 4, or embodiment 5 already described will be omitted as appropriate.

[0150] An example configuration of a light control device according to a sixth embodiment of the present disclosure and a light control system including the device will be described. Fig. 21 is a diagram showing an example configuration of a light control system 1F including a light control device 100F according to the sixth embodiment of the present disclosure. The light control system 1F shown in Fig. 21 is configured to include a peripheral object detection device 300, a line-of-sight detection device 400, a storage device 500, a light device 600, an ECU 700, an imaging device 800, and a light control device 100 (100F). Below, descriptions of the configurations that have already been described will be omitted, and only configurations that have not been described will be described.

[0151] Imaging device 800 captures images of the interior of a moving object. Imaging device 800 is, for example, a front camera. If a front camera is included in an outward-facing sensor in a moving object, it may be configured to be used in common with the front camera in the embodiment already described.

[0152] The light control device 100F controls illumination using brightness in a range corresponding to the line of sight of an occupant of the mobile body in an image of the outside captured from the mobile body. The light control device 100F shown in Fig. 21 includes an object information acquisition unit 101 (101F), a line of sight information acquisition unit 102 (102F), a mobile body information acquisition unit 103 (103F), an information storage control unit 110 (110F), a gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120F), a mobile body movement information acquisition unit 130 (130F), an object movement information acquisition unit 140 (140F), an unnecessary information determination unit 150 (150F), a brightness acquisition unit 160 (160F), an oversight determination unit 180 (180F), an illumination condition output unit 190 (190F), and an illumination control unit 200 (200F). The object information acquisition unit 101F, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102F, the moving body information acquisition unit 103F, the information accumulation control unit 110F, the gaze information acquisition unit 120F, the moving body movement information acquisition unit 130F, the object movement information acquisition unit 140F, the unnecessary information determination unit 150F, the irradiation condition output unit 190F, and the irradiation control unit 200F can have the same functions as the components with the same names already described. Detailed description of the above components will be omitted here.

[0153] The luminance acquisition unit 160F acquires luminance information indicating the luminance of an image captured from a moving object of the outside of the moving object. The luminance acquisition unit 160F shown in Fig. 21 acquires a captured image from the imaging device 800 and acquires the luminance of the image using the captured image.

[0154] The oversight determination unit 180F performs an oversight determination using the luminance corresponding to the area around the gaze related to the gaze, based on the luminance information of the image acquired by the luminance acquisition unit 160F, the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 102F, and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 120F. Specifically, when the gaze amount indicated in the gaze information output by the gaze information acquisition unit 120F is below a pre-stored gaze threshold, the oversight determination unit 180F uses the luminance information of the image acquired by the luminance acquisition unit 160F and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 102F to output a determination result indicating an oversight if the luminance around the gaze in the image is equal to or less than the pre-stored luminance threshold. Alternatively, when the gaze amount indicated in the gaze information output by the gaze information acquisition unit 120F is below the pre-stored gaze threshold, the oversight determination unit uses the luminance information of the image and the gaze information to output a determination result indicating an oversight if the relative luminance, which is the luminance of the gaze area relative to the luminance around the gaze in the image, is low.

[0155] An example of processing of a light control device according to embodiment 6 of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 22 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a light control device 100F according to embodiment 6 of the present disclosure. The processing shown in Fig. 22 is a light control method by the light control device of the present disclosure. Of the processing shown in Fig. 22 , processing other than the luminance acquisition processing (step ST6500), the oversight determination processing (step ST6600), and the illumination condition output processing (step ST6700) can be similar to the processing of the same names already described, and therefore description thereof will be omitted here.

[0156] The light control device 100F then executes a luminance acquisition process (step ST6500). In the luminance acquisition process, the luminance acquisition unit 160F of the light control device 100F acquires luminance information indicating the luminance of an image captured from a moving object of the outside of the moving object. The luminance acquisition unit 160F shown in FIG. 21 acquires a captured image from the imaging device 800 and acquires the luminance of the image using the captured image. The luminance acquisition unit 160F outputs the luminance information indicating the luminance of the image to the oversight determination unit 180F.

[0157] The light control device 100F then executes an oversight determination process (step ST6600). In the oversight determination process, the oversight determination unit 180F of the light control device 100F performs an oversight determination using the luminance corresponding to the periphery of the gaze related to the gaze, based on the luminance information of the image acquired by the luminance acquisition unit 160F, the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 102F, and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 120F. Specifically, when the gaze amount indicated in the gaze information output by the gaze information acquisition unit 120F is below a pre-stored gaze threshold, the oversight determination unit 180F performs an oversight determination using the luminance information of the image acquired by the luminance acquisition unit 160F and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 102F. The oversight determination unit 180F performs an oversight determination by comparing the luminance of the periphery of the gaze in the image with the pre-stored luminance threshold. When the luminance around the line of sight in the image is equal to or less than a pre-stored luminance threshold value (gaze direction luminance≦luminance threshold value), the oversight determination unit 180F outputs a determination result indicating that an oversight has occurred to the illumination condition output unit 190F. When the luminance around the line of sight in the image exceeds the pre-stored luminance threshold value, the oversight determination unit 180F outputs a determination result indicating that an oversight has not occurred to the illumination condition output unit 190F.

[0158] The light control device 100F then executes an illumination condition output process (step ST6700). In the illumination condition output process, the illumination condition output unit 190F of the light control device 100F acquires the determination result output by the oversight determination unit 180F, and determines whether or not to illuminate the target object based on the determination result.

[0159] Here, a detailed example of the oversight determination process and the illumination condition output process will be described. Fig. 23 is a flowchart showing an example of the oversight determination process and the illumination condition output process in the processing of the light control device 100F according to embodiment 6 of the present disclosure.

[0160] The oversight determination unit 180F executes a luminance information acquisition process (step ST6691). In the luminance information acquisition process, the oversight determination unit 180F acquires luminance information of the image from the luminance acquisition unit 160F.

[0161] The oversight determination unit 180F executes a brightness comparison process (step ST6692). In the brightness comparison process, the oversight determination unit 180F compares the brightness corresponding to the area around the gaze related to the gaze with a predetermined brightness threshold value, based on the brightness information of the image acquired by the brightness acquisition unit 160F, the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 102F, and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit 120F.

[0162] The oversight determination unit 180F executes gaze direction luminance determination processing (step ST6693: gaze direction luminance < luminance threshold value). In the gaze direction luminance determination processing, the oversight determination unit 180F determines whether the luminance corresponding to the gaze periphery related to the gaze exceeds a predetermined luminance threshold value. The oversight determination unit 180F outputs the determination result of the gaze direction luminance determination as the oversight determination result to the illumination condition output unit 190F. If the luminance corresponding to the gaze periphery related to the gaze does not exceed the predetermined luminance threshold value (step ST6693 "YES"), the oversight determination unit 180F outputs a determination result that the attention-requiring object has been overlooked to the illumination condition output unit 190F. If the luminance corresponding to the gaze periphery related to the gaze exceeds the predetermined luminance threshold value (step ST6693 "NO"), the oversight determination unit 180F outputs a determination result that the attention-requiring object has not been overlooked (a determination result indicating that the object has been viewed) to the illumination condition output unit 190F.

[0163] When the illumination condition output unit 190F acquires a determination result indicating that the object to be watched has been overlooked from the oversight determination unit 180F, the illumination condition output unit 190F executes an oversight illumination condition output process (step ST6694). In the oversight illumination condition output process, the illumination condition output unit 190F acquires an oversight illumination condition. The oversight illumination condition is a condition for irradiating light toward the object to be watched.

[0164] When the illumination condition output unit 190F acquires a determination result indicating that the object to be watched has not been overlooked (a determination result indicating that the object has been viewed) from the oversight determination unit 180F, the illumination condition output unit 190F executes a process of outputting illumination conditions for the object to be watched (step ST6695). In the process of outputting illumination conditions for the object to be watched, the illumination condition output unit 190F acquires illumination conditions for the object to be watched. The illumination conditions for the object to be watched are conditions under which light is not irradiated toward the object to be watched.

[0165] When the irradiation condition output unit 190F executes the process (step ST6694) or the process (step ST6695), it outputs the irradiation conditions to the irradiation control unit 200F and ends the process.

[0166] Here, an image of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 24 is an image diagram of a situation in which processing according to embodiment 6 of the present disclosure is executed. FIG. 24 illustrates a situation in which it is dark outside of a moving body 6000, such as at night. The moving body 6000 moves while irradiating light in a normal illumination range 6100. At this time, if a target object (pedestrian) 6400 is present in a position around the moving body but outside the detection range of the peripheral object detection device 300, even if the line of sight 6300 of an occupant (driver) 6200 of the moving body 6000 is in the direction of the target object (pedestrian) 6400, the target object may not be visible due to darkness. In contrast, in this embodiment, the brightness of an image captured by the imaging device 800 is utilized to determine that the target object (pedestrian) 6400 has been overlooked if the brightness in the direction of the line of sight directed toward the target object (pedestrian) 6400 is low, and illumination is performed.

[0167] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: A light control device further including a luminance acquisition unit that acquires luminance information of an image of the outside of the moving body captured from the moving body, wherein the oversight determination unit performs oversight determination using luminance corresponding to the periphery of the line of sight related to the gaze, based on the luminance information of the image acquired by the luminance acquisition unit, the line of sight information acquired by the line of sight information acquisition unit, and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit. This provides an advantageous effect of providing a light control device that makes it possible to reduce the occurrence of oversight. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides the same advantageous effect as the above by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0168] This embodiment further discloses the following exemplary configuration: a light control device characterized in that the oversight determination unit outputs a determination result indicating oversight when the luminance around the line of sight in the image is equal to or less than the pre-stored luminance threshold value, using luminance information of the image acquired by the luminance acquisition unit and line-of-sight information acquired by the line-of-sight information acquisition unit, if the gaze amount indicated in the gaze information output by the gaze information acquisition unit is below a pre-stored gaze threshold value. This provides an advantageous effect of providing a light control device that can further reduce the occurrence of oversight. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides an advantageous effect similar to the advantageous effect by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0169] This embodiment further discloses the following exemplary configuration: a light control device characterized in that the oversight determination unit uses the luminance information and the line of sight information to output a determination result indicating oversight when the amount of gaze indicated in the gaze information output by the gaze information acquisition unit is below a pre-stored gaze threshold and the relative luminance, which is the luminance of the line of sight area relative to the luminance around the line of sight in the image, is low. This provides an advantageous effect of providing a light control device that can further reduce the occurrence of oversight. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides the same advantageous effect as the above by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0170] Embodiment 7. In embodiment 7, a form is described in which it is determined whether or not to irradiate a target object by prioritizing the degree of danger associated with the target object. In embodiment 7, among the components according to embodiment 7, duplicated descriptions of components similar to those according to embodiment 1, embodiment 2, embodiment 3, embodiment 4, embodiment 5, or embodiment 6 already described will be omitted as appropriate.

[0171] An example configuration of a light control device according to a seventh embodiment of the present disclosure and a light control system including the device will be described. Fig. 25 is a diagram showing an example configuration of a light control system 1G including a light control device 100G according to the seventh embodiment of the present disclosure. The light control system 1 (1G) shown in Fig. 25 is configured to include a peripheral object detection device 300, a line of sight detection device 400, a storage device 500, a lighting device 600, an ECU 700, an imaging device 800, and a light control device 100 (100G). The peripheral object detection device 300, the line of sight detection device 400, the storage device 500, the lighting device 600, the ECU 700, and the imaging device 800 can each have the same configuration as the components with the same names already described, and therefore will not be described here.

[0172] The light control device 100G determines whether to illuminate or not illuminate an object depending on the level of danger associated with the object. The light control device 100G includes an object information acquisition unit 101 (101G), a line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102 (102G), a moving object information acquisition unit 103 (103G), an information accumulation control unit 110 (110G), a gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120G), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 130 (130G), an object movement information acquisition unit 140 (140G), an unnecessary information determination unit 150 (150G), a brightness acquisition unit 160 (160G), a danger level acquisition unit 170 (170G), an oversight determination unit 180 (180G), an illumination condition output unit 190 (190G), and an illumination control unit 200 (200G). The object information acquisition unit 101G, gaze information acquisition unit 102G, moving body information acquisition unit 103G, information storage control unit 110G, gaze information acquisition unit 120G, moving body movement information acquisition unit 130G, object movement information acquisition unit 140G, unnecessary information judgment unit 150G, brightness acquisition unit 160G, oversight judgment unit 180G, and irradiation control unit 200G can each be configured in the same way as the components of the same name already described, and so will not be described here.

[0173] The danger level acquisition unit 170G calculates the danger level for each object requiring attention relative to the moving body. The danger level is calculated based on the position of the object, the moving direction of the moving body, and the speed of the moving body, which are included in the object information. The danger level acquisition unit 170G calculates the danger level for each object using the object information acquired from the object information acquisition unit 101G and the moving body information acquired from the moving body information acquisition unit 103G.

[0174] The illumination condition output unit 190G outputs illumination conditions when the risk calculated by the risk acquisition unit 170G exceeds a pre-stored risk threshold. The illumination condition output unit 190G does not output illumination conditions when the risk calculated by the risk acquisition unit 170G does not exceed the pre-stored risk threshold. As a result, when the risk does not satisfy a predetermined value, even if the oversight determination unit determines that an oversight has occurred, the illumination condition output unit 190G can prevent output of illumination conditions for irradiating an object.

[0175] Next, a processing example of a light control device according to embodiment 7 of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 26 is a flowchart showing an example of processing of a light control device 100G according to embodiment 7 of the present disclosure. The processing shown in Fig. 26 is a light control method by the light control device of the present disclosure. Of the processing shown in Fig. 26 , processing other than the risk level acquisition processing (step ST7600) and the illumination condition output processing (step ST7800) can be similar to processing with the same names already described, and therefore description thereof will be omitted here.

[0176] The light control device 100G executes a risk level acquisition process (step ST7600). In the risk level acquisition process, the risk level acquisition unit 170G of the light control device 100G calculates a risk level for each object indicated in the object information using the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the moving object information acquired by the moving object information acquisition unit. The risk level acquisition unit 170G acquires the object information output by the object information acquisition unit. The risk level acquisition unit 170G acquires the moving object information output by the moving object information acquisition unit. The risk level acquisition unit 170G calculates a risk level for each object based on the position of the object included in the object information, and the moving direction and speed of the moving object included in the moving object information. The risk level acquisition unit 170G outputs risk level information including the calculated risk levels to the illumination condition output unit 190G.

[0177] Next, the illumination condition output process according to this embodiment will be described. The light control device 100G executes the illumination condition output process (step ST7800). In the illumination condition output process, the illumination condition output unit 190G of the light control device 100G outputs illumination conditions when the risk calculated by the risk level acquisition unit 170G exceeds a pre-stored risk threshold, and does not output illumination conditions when the risk calculated by the risk level acquisition unit 170G does not exceed the pre-stored risk threshold.

[0178] Here, a detailed example of the illumination condition output process will be described. Fig. 27 is a flowchart showing an example of the illumination condition output process in the processing of the light control device 100G according to the seventh embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0179] The irradiation condition output unit 190G executes a risk level acquisition process (step ST7710). In the risk level acquisition process, the irradiation condition output unit 190G acquires the risk level information output by the risk level acquisition unit 170G.

[0180] The irradiation condition output unit 190G executes a risk determination process (step ST7720). In the risk determination process, the irradiation condition output unit 190G determines whether the risk included in the risk information is equal to or greater than a predetermined risk threshold (risk≧risk threshold?).

[0181] When the illumination condition output unit 190G determines that the risk level is equal to or greater than a predetermined risk threshold ("YES" in step ST7720), it determines the illumination conditions to be those for illuminating the target object (step ST7730).The illumination condition output unit 190G then outputs illumination condition information indicating the illumination conditions for illuminating the target object to the illumination control unit 200G (step ST7750).

[0182] If the illumination condition output unit 190G determines that the risk level is not equal to or greater than the predetermined risk threshold (step ST7720 "NO"), it determines the illumination condition to be one in which light is not illuminated toward the attention-requiring object (step ST7740).The illumination condition output unit 190G then outputs illumination condition information indicating the non-illumination illumination condition in which light is not illuminated toward the attention-requiring object to the illumination control unit 200G (step ST7750).

[0183] The irradiation condition output unit 190G outputs the irradiation conditions based on the determination result to the irradiation control unit 200G, and then ends the process.

[0184] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: A light control device further comprising: a danger level acquisition unit that calculates a danger level for each attention-requiring object relative to the moving body; wherein the illumination condition output unit outputs illumination conditions when the danger level calculated by the danger level acquisition unit exceeds a pre-stored danger threshold; and does not output illumination conditions when the danger level calculated by the danger level acquisition unit does not exceed the pre-stored danger threshold. This provides an advantageous effect of providing a light control device that makes it possible to prevent illumination when the danger level is low. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides an advantageous effect similar to the advantageous effect by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0185] This embodiment further discloses an exemplary embodiment having the following configuration: A light control device characterized in that the risk level is calculated based on the position of the object, the direction of movement of the moving object, and the speed of the moving object included in the object information. This provides an advantage of providing a light control device that can improve the accuracy of the risk level while preventing illumination when the risk level is low. Furthermore, the present disclosure provides the same advantage as the above by applying the above configuration to a light control system, the light control method, or the program.

[0186] Here, a hardware configuration for realizing the functions of the present disclosure will be described. Fig. 28 is a diagram showing a first example of a hardware configuration for realizing the functions of the configuration of the present disclosure. Fig. 29 is a diagram showing a second example of a hardware configuration for realizing the functions of the configuration of the present disclosure. Each of the light control devices 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, and 100G of the present disclosure is realized by the hardware shown in Fig. 28 or Fig. 29.

[0187] 28, each of the light control devices 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, and 100G is configured, for example, with a processor 10001, a memory 10002, an input / output interface 10003, and a communication circuit 10004. The processor 10001 and the memory 10002 are, for example, installed in a computer. The memory 10002 stores the computer, and includes an object information acquisition unit 101 (101A, 101B, 101C, 101D, 101E, 101F, 101G), a line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102 (102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, 102G), a moving object information acquisition unit 103 (103C, 103D, 103E, 103F, 103G), an information storage control unit 110 (110A, 110B, 110C, 110D, 110E, 110F, 110G), a gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120B, 120C, 120D, 120E, 120F, 120G), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 130 (130C, 130D, 130E, 130F, 130G), a gaze information acquisition unit 140 (140C, 140D, 140E, 140F, 140G), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 150 (150C, 150D, 150E, 150F, 150G), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 160 (160C, 160D, 160E, 160F, 160G), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 170 (170C, 170D, 170E, 170F, 170G), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 180 (180C, 180D, 180E, 180F, 180G), a moving object movement information acquisition unit 19 30G), object movement information acquisition unit 140 (140D, 140E, 140F, 140G), unnecessary information determination unit 150 (150E, 150F, 150G), brightness acquisition unit 160 (160F, 160G), risk level acquisition unit 170 (170G), oversight determination unit 180 (180A, 180B, 180C, 180D, 180E, 180F, 180G), irradiation condition output unit 190 (190A, 190B, 190C, 190D, 190E, 190F, 190G), irradiation control unit 200 (200A, 200B, 200C, 200D, 200E, 200F, 200G), and a program for causing the unit to function as a control unit not shown are stored.The processor 10001 reads out and executes the program stored in the memory 10002, whereby the object information acquisition unit 101 (101A, 101B, 101C, 101D, 101E, 101F, 101G), the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102 (102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, 102G), the moving body information acquisition unit 103 (103C, 103D, 103E, 103F, 103G), the information storage control unit 110 (110A, 110B, 110C, 110D, 110E, 110F, 110G), the gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120B, 120C, 120D, 120E, 120F, 120G), the moving body movement information acquisition unit 130 (1 130C, 130D, 130E, 130F, 130G), object movement information acquisition unit 140 (140D, 140E, 140F, 140G), unnecessary information determination unit 150 (150E, 150F, 150G), brightness acquisition unit 160 (160F, 160G), risk level acquisition unit 170 (170G), oversight determination unit 180 (180A, 180B, 180C, 180D, 180E, 180F, 180G), irradiation condition output unit 190 (190A, 190B, 190C, 190D, 190E, 190F, 190G), irradiation control unit 200 (200A, 200B, 200C, 200D, 200E, 200F, 200G), and functions of a control unit not shown are realized. Furthermore, a storage unit (not shown) is realized by the memory 10002 or another memory (not shown). Furthermore, a communication unit (not shown) is realized by the communication circuit 10004.

[0188] The processor 10001 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a microprocessor, a microcontroller, or a DSP (Digital Signal Processor). The memory 10002 may be a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) or flash memory, or a magnetic disk such as a hard disk or flexible disk, or an optical disk such as a CD (Compact Disc) or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a magneto-optical disk. The processor 10001 and the memory 10002 or the communication circuit 10004 are connected in a state capable of transmitting data to each other. The processor 10001, memory 10002, and communication circuit 10004 are connected via an input / output interface 10003 so as to be capable of transmitting data to and from other hardware.

[0189] Or, in the light control device 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, 100G, the object information acquisition unit 101 (101A, 101B, 101C, 101D, 101E, 101F, 101G), the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102 (102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, 102G), the moving object information acquisition unit 101 (101A, 101B, 101C, 101D, 101E, 101F, 101G), the moving object information acquisition unit 102 (102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, 102 ...B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, 102G), the moving object information acquisition unit 102 (102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, 102G), the moving object information acquisition unit 102 (102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, 102G), the moving object information information acquisition unit 103 (103C, 103D, 103E, 103F, 103G), information storage control unit 110 (110A, 110B, 110C, 110D, 110E, 110F, 110G), gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120B, 120C, 120D, 120E, 120F, 120G), mobile object movement information acquisition unit 130 (130C, 130D, 130E, 130F, 130G), object movement information acquisition unit 140 (140D, 140E, 140F, 140G), unnecessary information determination unit 150 (150E, 150F, 150G), brightness acquisition unit 160 (160F, 160G), risk level acquisition unit 170 (170G), oversight determination unit 180 (180A, 180B, 180C, 180D, 180E, 180F, 180 The functions of the irradiation condition output unit 190 (190A, 190B, 190C, 190D, 190E, 190F, 190G), the irradiation control unit 200 (200A, 200B, 200C, 200D, 200E, 200F, 200G), and a control unit not shown may be realized by a dedicated processing circuit 20001 as shown in FIG.

[0190] The processing circuit 20001 may be, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), a SoC (System-on-a-Chip), or a system LSI (Large-Scale Integration), etc. In addition, a storage unit (not shown) is realized by the memory 20002 or another memory (not shown). The memory 20002 may be a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), or flash memory, or a magnetic disk such as a hard disk or flexible disk, or an optical disk such as a CD (Compact Disc) or DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or a magneto-optical disk. The communication circuit 20004 implements a communication unit (not shown). The processing circuit 20001 and the memory 20002 or the communication circuit 20004 are connected in a state where they can transmit data to each other. In addition, the processing circuit 20001, the memory 20002, and the communication circuit 20004 are connected in a state where they can transmit data to other hardware via the input / output interface 20003.In addition, in the light control devices 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, and 100G, the object information acquisition unit 101 (101A, 101B, 101C, 101D, 101E, 101F, and 101G), the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102 (102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, and 102G), the moving object Information acquisition unit 103 (103C, 103D, 103E, 103F, 103G), information storage control unit 110 (110A, 110B, 110C, 110D, 110E, 110F, 110G), gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120B, 120C, 120D, 120E, 120F, 120G), mobile object movement information acquisition unit 130 (130C, 130D, 130 E, 130F, 130G), object movement information acquisition unit 140 (140D, 140E, 140F, 140G), unnecessary information determination unit 150 (150E, 150F, 150G), brightness acquisition unit 160 (160F, 160G), risk level acquisition unit 170 (170G), oversight determination unit 180 (180A, 180B, 180C, 180D, 180E, 180F, 180G), irradiation condition output unit 190 (190A, 190B, 190C, 190D, 190E, 190F, 190G), irradiation control unit 200 (200A, 200B, 200C, 200D, 200E, 200F, 200G), and the functions of a control unit not shown may be realized by separate processing circuits, or may be realized collectively by a processing circuit.

[0191] Alternatively, in the light control devices 100, 100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, and 100G, the object information acquisition unit 101 (101A, 101B, 101C, 101D, 101E, 101F, and 101G), the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 102 (102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, and 102G), and the moving body information acquisition unit 103 ( 103C, 103D, 103E, 103F, 103G), information storage control unit 110 (110A, 110B, 110C, 110D, 110E, 110F, 110G), gaze information acquisition unit 120 (120B, 120C, 120D, 120E, 120F, 120G), mobile object movement information acquisition unit 130 (130C, 130D, 130E, 130F, 130G), object movement information information acquisition unit 140 (140D, 140E, 140F, 140G), unnecessary information determination unit 150 (150E, 150F, 150G), brightness acquisition unit 160 (160F, 160G), risk level acquisition unit 170 (170G), oversight determination unit 180 (180A, 180B, 180C, 180D, 180E, 180F, 180G), irradiation condition output unit 190 (190A, 190B , 190C, 190D, 190E, 190F, 190G), irradiation control unit 200 (200A, 200B, 200C, 200D, 200E, 200F, 200G), and some of the functions of a control unit not shown may be realized by a processor 10001 and memory 10002, and the remaining functions may be realized by a processing circuit 20001.

[0192] It should be noted that, within the scope of this disclosure, the embodiments may be freely combined, any component of each embodiment may be modified, or any component of each embodiment may be omitted.

[0193] The present disclosure can prevent unnecessary light from being emitted in a lighting device, and is therefore suitable for use in a lighting control device that controls the lighting device of a moving body, for example.

[0194] 1 (1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G) Light control system, 100 (100A, 100B, 100C, 100D, 100E, 100F, 100G) Light control device, 101 (101A, 101B, 101C, 101D, 101E, 101F, 101G) Object information acquisition unit, 102 (102A, 102B, 102C, 102D, 102E, 102F, 102G) Line-of-sight information acquisition unit, 103 (103C, 103D, 103E, 103F, 103G) Moving object information acquisition unit, 110 (110A, 110B, 110C, 110D, 110E, 110F, 110G) Information storage control unit, 120 (120B, 120C, 120D, 120E, 120F, 120G) Gaze information acquisition unit, 130 (130C, 130D, 130E, 130F, 130G) Mobile object movement information acquisition unit, 140 (140D, 140E, 140F, 140G) Object movement information acquisition unit, 150 (150E, 150F, 150G) Unnecessary information determination unit, 160 (160F, 160G) Brightness acquisition unit, 170 (170G) Risk level acquisition unit, 180 (180A, 180B, 180C, 180D, 180E, 180F, 180G) Oversight determination unit, 190 (190A, 190B, 190C, 190D, 190E, 190F, 190G) illumination condition output unit, 200 (200A, 200B, 200C, 200D, 200E, 200F, 200G) illumination control unit, 300 peripheral object detection device, 400 gaze detection device, 500 storage device 500 lighting device, 700 ECU 700 imaging device, 1000 moving body (vehicle), 1100 normal illumination range, 1200 detectable range, 1300 gaze (gaze before the current time, past gaze), 1400 object (pedestrian), 1500 gaze (gaze at the current time), 6000 moving body, 6100 normal illumination range, 6200 occupant (driver), 6300 gaze, 6400 Object to be watched (pedestrian), 10001 processor, 10002 memory, 10003 input / output interface, 10004 communication circuit, 20001 processing circuit, 20002 memory, 20003 input / output interface, 20004 communication circuit.

Claims

1. A lighting control device comprising: an object information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, object information including the direction of a gaze-requiring object that should be gazed at by an occupant of a moving body from among objects that may be present around the moving body; a gaze information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, gaze information including the gaze direction of the occupant of the moving body; an oversight determination unit that performs an oversight determination, which is a determination as to whether the gaze-requiring object indicated in the object information has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit; and an illumination condition output unit that uses the result of the oversight determination by the oversight determination unit to output illumination conditions for a lighting device according to the determination result.

2. A light control device as described in claim 1, further comprising a gaze information acquisition unit that calculates the amount of gaze from the past to the present for each object requiring gaze using the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit, wherein the oversight determination unit makes an oversight determination based on the amount of gaze calculated by the gaze information acquisition unit.

3. A light control device as described in claim 2, wherein, when the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit includes an object requiring attention, the gaze information acquisition unit calculates, for each object requiring attention, an amount of gaze, which is the amount of gaze the occupant has given to the object, using line-of-sight information prior to the current time; and, when the amount of gaze calculated by the gaze information acquisition unit is below a gaze threshold value stored in advance, the light control device as described in claim 2, wherein:

4. A light control device as described in claim 2 or claim 3, comprising a mobile object movement information acquisition unit that acquires mobile object movement information including the amount of movement of the mobile object from a position where gaze information was previously acquired to a current position based on mobile object information related to the movement of the mobile object, wherein the gaze information acquisition unit further calculates the gaze amount based on the mobile object movement information acquired by the mobile object movement information acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit, taking into account the movement of the mobile object from a position where gaze information was previously acquired to a position at the current time.

5. A light control device as described in claim 2, comprising an object movement information acquisition unit that acquires object movement information including the amount of movement of an object to be watched from a past position to a current position based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit, wherein the gaze information acquisition unit further uses the object movement information acquired by the object movement information acquisition unit to calculate the amount of gaze taking into account the movement of the object to be watched.

6. The light control device according to claim 2, wherein the oversight determination unit calculates the amount of gaze in the past for a predetermined period of time from the current time, and if the amount of gaze exceeds a pre-stored gaze threshold, determines that the object requiring gaze has not been overlooked.

7. A light control device as described in claim 2, wherein each time the gaze information acquisition unit adds up the gaze amount going back from the current time to the past, the oversight determination unit determines whether the gaze amount exceeds a gaze threshold value stored in advance, and if the gaze amount exceeds the gaze threshold value stored in advance, determines that an object requiring attention has been overlooked and terminates the process of adding up the gaze amount by the gaze information acquisition unit.

8. A light control device as described in claim 1, wherein the illumination condition output unit outputs illumination conditions for illuminating the object to be watched when the judgment result by the oversight judgment unit indicates that the object to be watched has been overlooked, and outputs illumination conditions for not illuminating the object to be watched when the judgment result by the oversight judgment unit indicates that the object to be watched has not been overlooked.

9. A light control device as described in claim 1, further comprising an unnecessary information determination unit that determines that the object information acquired in chronological order by the object information acquisition unit and the line-of-sight information acquired in chronological order by the line-of-sight information acquisition unit is unnecessary and deletes the information when the distance from the position at which the information was acquired to the current position exceeds a pre-stored distance threshold.

10. A light control device as described in claim 2, further comprising a brightness acquisition unit that acquires brightness information of an image of the outside of the moving body captured from the moving body, wherein the oversight determination unit performs oversight determination using brightness corresponding to the surroundings of the line of sight related to gaze based on the brightness information of the image acquired by the brightness acquisition unit, the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit, and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit.

11. A light control device as described in claim 10, wherein the oversight determination unit uses the luminance information of the image acquired by the luminance acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit to output a determination result indicating oversight when the luminance around the gaze in the image is equal to or less than the luminance threshold value stored in advance, in a case where the amount of gaze indicated in the gaze information output by the gaze information acquisition unit is below a pre-stored gaze threshold value.

12. A light control device as described in claim 10, wherein the oversight determination unit uses the luminance information and the line of sight information to output a determination result indicating an oversight if the amount of gaze indicated in the gaze information output by the gaze information acquisition unit is below a pre-stored gaze threshold value and the relative luminance, which is the luminance of the line of sight area relative to the luminance around the line of sight in the image, is low.

13. A light control device as described in claim 1, further comprising a danger level acquisition unit that calculates the danger level for each object requiring attention relative to the moving body, wherein the illumination condition output unit outputs illumination conditions when the danger level calculated by the danger level acquisition unit exceeds a pre-stored danger threshold value, and does not output illumination conditions when the danger level calculated by the danger level acquisition unit does not exceed the pre-stored danger threshold value.

14. A light control device as described in claim 13, wherein the degree of danger is calculated based on the position of the object, the direction of movement of the moving object, and the speed of the moving object included in the object information.

15. A light control method using a light control device, wherein an object information acquisition unit of the light control device acquires, in time series, object information including the direction of a gaze-requiring object that should be gazed at by an occupant of the moving body from among objects that may be present around the moving body; a line-of-sight information acquisition unit of the light control device acquires, in time series, line-of-sight information including the line-of-sight direction of the occupant of the moving body; an oversight determination unit of the light control device makes an oversight determination, which is a determination as to whether an object to be gazed at that is indicated in the object information and has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the line-of-sight information acquired by the line-of-sight information acquisition unit; and an illumination condition output unit of the light control device uses the result of the oversight determination made by the oversight determination unit to output illumination conditions for the lighting device according to the determination result.

16. A program for operating a computer as a lighting control device comprising: an object information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, object information including the direction of a gaze-requiring object that should be gazed at by an occupant of a moving body from among objects that may exist around the moving body; a gaze information acquisition unit that acquires, in time series, gaze information including the gaze direction of the occupant of the moving body; an oversight judgment unit that performs an oversight judgment, which is a judgment as to whether the gaze-requiring object indicated in the object information has been overlooked by the occupant between the past and the present, based on the object information acquired by the object information acquisition unit and the gaze information acquired by the gaze information acquisition unit; and an illumination condition output unit that uses the judgment result of the oversight judgment by the oversight judgment unit to output illumination conditions for a lighting device according to the judgment result.

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