Vehicular Mixed-Reality See-Through Control for Occluded Object Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge is to provide a safe and effective 'see-through' functionality for drivers of following vehicles to overcome the obstruction caused by lead vehicles, ensuring visibility of occluded objects such as pedestrians, vehicles, or animals, thereby enhancing driver awareness and preventing unsafe conditions.
Innovation Solution
A mixed-reality scene is generated by merging images from cameras aboard the lead and following vehicles, using digital compositing techniques to create a see-through region that de-emphasizes the occluded portion of the lead vehicle's image and emphasizes the occluded portion of the following vehicle's image, displayed on a dashboard or windshield display, with automatic enabling and disabling of the functionality based on camera alignment and object detection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If see-through functionality is enabled to reveal occluded objects, then driver awareness is improved, but risk of masking objects between vehicles increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of objects between the lead and following vehicles using the following vehicle's camera before generating the see-through view. This preliminary anti-action prevents harmful masking by identifying and preserving objects that would otherwise be obscured in the composite image.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the scene using the following vehicle's camera and dynamically adjusts the see-through display based on detected objects. This feedback mechanism ensures that objects between vehicles are always visible, either in the original view or highlighted in the composite view, preventing masking while maintaining see-through functionality.
2Adaptability or versatility
If mixed-reality scene is generated using camera images, then see-through capability is achieved, but camera alignment issues cause misrepresentation of physical world
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the following vehicle's camera as an intermediary to detect and verify objects between the vehicles. This intermediary source provides reference information that compensates for alignment issues in the lead vehicle's camera, ensuring accurate representation of the physical world while maintaining see-through capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the composite image generation based on real-time camera alignment conditions. When alignment issues are detected, the system adapts by relying more on the following vehicle's camera data or adjusting the composite overlay, maintaining measurement precision while preserving see-through functionality.
3Reliability
If see-through functionality is always enabled, then driver awareness is continuously improved, but unsafe conditions may be created by masking objects
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically enables or disables see-through functionality based on real-time detection of objects between vehicles. When objects are detected, the system switches to displaying the original camera view or a modified view that highlights objects, preventing unsafe masking while maintaining driver awareness when conditions are safe.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors for objects between vehicles using the following vehicle's camera and provides feedback control over the see-through display. This feedback ensures that see-through functionality is only enabled when safe, automatically switching to alternative views when objects are detected that could be masked.
4Adaptability or versatility
If camera images are merged using digital compositing, then see-through region is created, but complexity of system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential elements needed for see-through functionality: the lead vehicle's camera feed for the background and the following vehicle's camera for object detection and foreground elements. By taking out only what is necessary and using simple compositing operations, the system reduces complexity while maintaining see-through capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable media are presented for providing a mixed-reality scene involving a lead vehicle and a following vehicle. The system may present a sequence of mixed-reality images to a driver of the following vehicle, resulting from merging (a) an image captured by a camera aboard the lead vehicle and (b) an image captured by a camera aboard the following vehicle, to generate a merged image. The system may discontinue or diminish mixed-reality content of the sequence of mixed-reality images in response to one or more detected conditions, which may comprise detection of an object between the lead vehicle and the following vehicle.