Vehicle Visual Alert Escalation to Reduce Driver Annoyance

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing vehicle alertness maintaining devices provide intense sound stimuli that annoy drivers and passengers due to their intensity, despite being effective.

Innovation Solution

A notification method and system that utilizes visual notifications from multiple visual devices positioned strategically within the vehicle cabin to provide varying levels of intensity, avoiding sound notifications when lower intensity is required, ensuring drivers are alerted without annoyance.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If sound notifications are used to alert drivers, then alertness is improved, but driver annoyance increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedriver alertnessVSAvoiddriver annoyance

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces sound-based notification systems with visual notification systems using LEDs and display devices. This substitution eliminates acoustic annoyance while maintaining effective driver alertness through visual stimuli presented on instrument panels, head-up displays, or mobile device interfaces.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the notification parameter from acoustic intensity to visual intensity, controlling LED brightness levels and display characteristics. By adjusting visual parameters such as luminance, color, and duration, the system achieves effective driver alertness without the harmful side effects of intense sound notifications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Object-affected harmful factors

If visual notifications are used instead of sound, then driver annoyance is reduced, but notification effectiveness may be compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedriver annoyanceVSAvoidnotification effectiveness

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the visual notification system into multiple independent components including instrument panel LEDs, head-up display elements, and mobile device notifications. This segmentation allows the system to present information in distributed visual channels, maintaining effectiveness while avoiding the overload and annoyance associated with single intense sound notifications.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent transitions from one-dimensional acoustic notifications to multi-dimensional visual notifications by utilizing spatial distribution (multiple display locations), temporal patterns (flash sequences), and visual characteristics (color, brightness). This dimensional expansion ensures notification effectiveness is maintained or enhanced while reducing driver annoyance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Data Source

PatentUS20250303962A1Notification method, notification system, and vehicle

Publication Date: 2025.10.02 TOYOTA JIDOSHA KK

AI summary

A notification method for giving a notification to a driver sitting in a driver's seat of a vehicle includes: setting a target level of strength of the notification; when the target level is a first level, giving a visual notification from a visual device of the vehicle without giving a sound notification from a speaker of the vehicle; and when the target level is higher than the first level, giving a strong visual notification from the visual device or the sound notification from the speaker. The strong visual notification is stronger than the visual notification that is given when the target level is the first level.