Rearview Mirror Display Interface for In-Car Media Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Drivers face challenges in navigating and selecting music or other content on portable devices while driving, as they must look away from the road to access small screens on devices like iPods or MP3 players, disrupting their forward field of view.
Innovation Solution
An interior rearview mirror system with a display and control interface allows drivers to navigate and select content on connected devices, such as iPods or MP3 players, without looking away, using a user-interactive display system that includes a mounting structure, reflective element, and a display device at the rearview mirror, enabling wireless communication and control of the device's menus.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If drivers use portable playback devices with small screens to select music or content, then content selection capability is improved, but driver safety deteriorates due to the need to look away from the road
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary display device mounted on the rearview mirror that acts as a mediator between the portable playback device and the driver. This intermediary screen displays menu options and content information in the driver's peripheral vision area, allowing content selection without diverting attention from the road. The intermediary device receives data from the portable player and presents it in a location that does not require the driver to take eyes off the road.
2Measurement precision
If drivers look at the small screen of portable devices to navigate menus, then menu navigation precision is improved, but forward field of view is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent relocates the display from the horizontal plane (where the driver's hands and small device screens are located) to the vertical plane (the rearview mirror area above the dashboard). This dimensional change positions the display in the driver's upper peripheral vision field, allowing menu navigation to occur in a different spatial dimension that does not compete with the forward road view. The display appears in the vertical dimension while the driver maintains horizontal focus on the road.
3Adaptability or versatility
If playback devices are docked at the instrument panel or center console, then device connectivity is improved, but driver accessibility to controls deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the display function with the rearview mirror assembly, combining two previously separate functions (rearview mirror and information display) into a single integrated unit. This merging places the display controls and information in the driver's immediate peripheral vision area, eliminating the need to reach down to the instrument panel or center console. The combination of mirror and display creates a unified interface that is both connected to the playback device and easily accessible to the driver.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicular driver monitoring system includes an interior prismatic rearview mirror assembly and a camera disposed at the interior prismatic rearview mirror assembly behind and viewing through a prismatic mirror reflective element into the interior cabin of the vehicle. Supplemental sources of near infrared illumination are disposed at the mirror assembly that are operable to emit near infrared light to illuminate at least the driver-side front seating area within the interior cabin of the vehicle. Presence of the camera behind the prismatic mirror reflective element is not readily apparent to an occupant of the vehicle. The camera at least (a) views the driver-side front seating area of the vehicle and (b) views a passenger-side front seating area of the vehicle. The driver of the equipped vehicle is monitored via processing at the processor of image data captured by the camera.