Vehicle Character Command Interface for Low-Distraction Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Touch screen displays and speech recognition systems in vehicles are unreliable and distracting, leading to increased accident risks due to the need for visual attention and inconsistent command execution, especially in moving vehicles, and lack of standardization across different vehicle models.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing hand-drawn characters and meta-commands, interpreted by a commanding computer software, to control vehicle functions, allowing drivers to issue commands without looking at the screen, using a touchpad, camera, or other input devices, and ensuring reliable command recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If touch screen displays with on-screen controls are used to save money and extend vehicle control options, then manufacturing costs are reduced and control versatility is improved, but driver distraction increases and command execution reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary recognition system that identifies driver gestures (hand waves, finger points, head movements) as mediators between the driver and vehicle controls. This intermediary layer translates natural gestures into control commands, eliminating the need for direct touch screen interaction while maintaining control versatility and improving reliability through gesture-based command execution.
2Device complexity
If touch screen displays are used to eliminate physical buttons and levers, then device complexity is reduced and manufacturing costs decrease, but ease of operation deteriorates due to visual attention requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical touch screen interaction with gesture recognition systems that detect and interpret driver movements. This substitution eliminates the need for physical contact with the display while maintaining simplified control architecture, thereby improving ease of operation without increasing device complexity.
3Ease of operation
If speech recognition systems are implemented to allow hands-free control, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to voice characteristic variability and ambient sounds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the control interface into multiple gesture types (hand waves, finger points, head movements) that can be independently recognized and interpreted. This segmentation allows the system to handle different command types through distinct gesture patterns, improving reliability by reducing ambiguity compared to single-mode speech recognition while maintaining hands-free operation.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple customized control interfaces are provided by different manufacturers, then adaptability to specific vehicle features is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to lack of standardization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes a universal gesture recognition framework that can interpret standardized gestures across different vehicle types and manufacturers. This universal system maintains adaptability to specific vehicle features while ensuring consistent operation across all vehicles, as the same gestures produce the same command types regardless of the vehicle model.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer mediated method for effecting proactive control of computer-controlled processes and/or devices related to a vehicle. Proactive control is enabled by computer recognition of a proactive user who is drawing (writing), signing, keyboarding, or voicing characters (letters, numbers, punctuation) and meta commands (such as DONE, NEXT, CANCEL) and transmitting an encoding of the characters and meta commands to the computer program that is empowered to control the vehicle. Drawn characters may be drawn on a touch sensitive device, on a surface viewable by a camera, or in three-dimensional space unrelated to a surface. All mechanisms for delivering encoded characters and meta commands to the computer directly controlling the vehicle are subsumed by this patent. Feedback is provided by the computer directly controlling the vehicle via a display and/or speech in order to close the loop on interpretation of the character and meta commands.