In-Car Information Output Adaptation for Driver Workload Peaks

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional methods for outputting information to drivers in vehicles often lead to driver overload, increasing the risk of accidents due to excessive demands on the driver's attention, which can result in degraded performance and safety.

Innovation Solution

A computer-implemented method and apparatus that determine a driver's workload by analyzing various data sources, including map, traffic, navigation, sensor, and communication status data, to control the output of information, such as delaying or suppressing notifications, modifying prominence, or transforming modalities, to prevent overload and enhance safety.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If information is continuously output to the driver through in-car systems, then the driver receives comprehensive assistance and information, but the driver's workload increases and safety deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedriver safetyVSAvoiddriver workload
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system dynamically adjusts the output of information based on real-time driver workload assessment. When workload is high, the system reduces or suppresses information output; when workload is low, it provides more comprehensive information. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the information system flexible rather than static, ensuring safety while maintaining comprehensiveness when appropriate.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes the parameters of information output (volume, frequency, type of information) based on driver state. By monitoring driver workload and adjusting information delivery parameters accordingly, the system maintains safety while providing necessary assistance, resolving the contradiction between comprehensive information delivery and driver overload.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

2Adaptability or versatility

If multiple in-car systems output information simultaneously, then the driver receives diverse assistance, but the attention demand exceeds driver capacity

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinformation diversityVSAvoiddriver attention demand
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts and prioritizes only the most critical information for output to the driver at any given moment. By filtering out non-essential information when driver capacity is limited, the system maintains information diversity where needed while reducing attention demand to manageable levels, resolving the contradiction between versatility and ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The system uses feedback from driver monitoring to adjust information output. By continuously assessing driver state and adjusting information delivery accordingly, the system ensures that information diversity is provided adaptively without overwhelming the driver's attention capacity, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and ease of operation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentEP4382335A1Method, apparatus and computer program for controlling output of information
Publication Date: 2024.06.12 TOMTOM INT BV
  • EP4382335A1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4382335A1 patent drawingFigure 3~4B
  • EP4382335A1 patent drawingFigure 4C~5

AI summary

Certain examples of the present disclosure relate to a computer implemented method (100) for controlling an output of information to a driver of a vehicle, the method comprising: determining (101) workload data (204) indicative of a workload of the driver, and generating (102) control data (205) for controlling the output of information (206, 207) to the driver based at least in part on the workload data.