Touch-Sensing Seat Feedback for Multi-Sensory Cabin Interaction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing seat systems for autonomous vehicles lack the ability to effectively change the surrounding environment to notify users of their movement synchronization, relying solely on display-based feedback, which limits user engagement and comfort.
Innovation Solution
A seat system equipped with sensors to detect user touch operations and an output device capable of producing sound, light, and vibration, controlled by a device that adjusts outputs based on user movements, allowing for a more immersive and interactive experience.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the system uses display-based feedback to notify users of movement synchronization, then the notification function is provided, but the user engagement and comfort are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The feedback system is segmented into multiple independent output channels: sound output device, light output device, and vibration output device. Each device operates independently to provide different types of feedback, allowing the system to notify users through multiple sensory modalities rather than relying solely on display-based visual feedback.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from two-dimensional display-based visual feedback to multi-dimensional sensory feedback by incorporating auditory (sound), visual (light), and tactile (vibration) dimensions. This dimensional expansion enables more immersive and engaging user interaction with the seat system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the system provides notifications only through application terminal display, then the system complexity is kept simple, but the ability to change surrounding environment is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The seat system is designed with multi-functional output devices that can perform multiple functions: the sound output device provides auditory feedback and can change the acoustic environment; the light output device provides visual feedback and can illuminate the surrounding area; the vibration output device provides tactile feedback. This multi-functionality enables the system to adapt to different user needs and scenarios without requiring separate dedicated devices for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The control device serves as an intermediary that receives input from sensors detecting user movement and coordinates the output to multiple different types of output devices. This intermediary component manages the complexity by centralizing the decision-making logic while enabling diverse environmental adaptations through multiple output channels.
3Reliability
If the system uses multiple output devices to provide multi-sensory feedback, then user engagement and comfort are improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates sensors that detect user movement and feeding this information back to the control device, which then adjusts the output from sound, light, and vibration devices accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism ensures that the multi-sensory feedback is responsive to actual user behavior, improving reliability by ensuring the feedback is relevant and timely rather than arbitrary.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple output devices (sound, light, vibration) into a unified seat system controlled by a single control device. Rather than treating these as separate systems, they are integrated and coordinated to work together, providing synergistic multi-sensory feedback that enhances user engagement while managing system complexity through unified control architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a seat system which can change a surrounding environment of a user including illumination according to the movement of the user's body. A seat system comprises a seat body on which a user can be seated; a plurality of sensors provided on or in the seat body or on a structure arranged around the seat body and configured to detect a touch operation by the user seated on the seat body; an output device configured to output at least one of sound, light, and vibration; and a control device configured to control the output device such that, when one or more of the sensors detect a touch operation, the control device causes the output device to generate a corresponding predetermined output.