Driver Gaze Recognition for External Object Viewing Assistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in providing appropriate operation assistance to drivers, particularly in distinguishing between viewing objects outside the vehicle and viewing indicators, which affects traffic safety and sustainable transportation development.
Innovation Solution
An operation assistance system that includes a surrounding object recognition section, driver image acquisition, line-of-sight direction recognition, length-between-pupils recognition, and drive assistance control to determine if the driver views an object, with alert and contact avoidance processing activated when the driver does not view the object, and a similar system for recognizing the user's view of operation portions within the vehicle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If operation assistance processing is executed to support driving when the driver does not recognize an object, then traffic safety is improved, but it becomes difficult to distinguish between situations where the driver views an object outside the vehicle and situations where the driver views an indicator or the like in the vehicle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical or simple optical viewing detection with a comprehensive image processing system that uses multiple cameras to capture driver eye position, line of sight direction, and pupil distance. This substitution enables precise digital analysis of whether the driver is viewing external objects or internal indicators, resolving the distinction difficulty while maintaining safety monitoring capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds dimensional information by measuring not just the direction of the driver's line of sight but also the distance between pupils and the object being viewed. This multi-dimensional approach (direction + distance + eye position) creates a comprehensive spatial model that clearly distinguishes between viewing external objects and internal indicators, solving the identification problem
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system monitors driver line of sight and pupil distance to determine viewing objects, then appropriate operation assistance is provided, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the image processing system to perform multiple functions simultaneously: detecting driver presence, tracking eye movement, measuring line of sight direction, calculating pupil distance, and determining object viewing status. This multi-functional approach consolidates what could be separate complex systems into a unified driver monitoring system, achieving versatility while managing complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines multiple camera systems and processing functions into an integrated driver state determination system. By merging the image acquisition, line of sight detection, and distance measurement functions into a single coordinated system, the patent achieves the needed adaptability for appropriate operation assistance while avoiding the complexity of separate independent systems
Data Source
AI summary
An operation assistance system includes: a driver image acquisition section that acquires an image of a driver in the movable body; a line-of-sight direction recognition section that recognizes the direction of the line of sight of the driver on the basis of the image; a length-between-pupils recognition section that recognizes the length between right and left pupils of the driver on the basis of the image; a viewing-object determination section that determines whether or not the driver views an object on the basis of the direction of the line of sight of the driver and the length between pupils of the driver; and a drive assistance control section that executes drive assistance processing for assisting driving of the movable body in a case where the viewing-object determination section determines that the driver does not view the object.